At about 4 o'clock in the morning of 4 July, Admiral Yamamoto, commander of the Japanese Navy's Combined Fleet, was awakened by a hurried knock on the door, turned on the light in the cabin, looked at his watch, and at 4 o'clock in the morning, according to the fleet's sailing speed, at this time, he had approached the US Pacific Fleet, and Vice Admiral Matsuda, the chief of staff on duty, should have come to report the situation. om // Fastest update //

opened the hatch, and sure enough, it was Chief of Staff Matsuda, but at this moment, Lieutenant General Matsuda did not have the excitement and excitement of catching the prey at all, but looked anxious, General Yamamoto looked at his deputy in surprise, and asked quietly: "Matsuda-kun, what happened to the accident?" ”

Vice Admiral Matsuda wiped the sweat from his face and hurriedly reported: "Your Excellency, Commander, I have received a report from the submarine squadron monitoring the enemy that the US Pacific Fleet was forced to slow down due to strong winds and waves, and the voyage was delayed for more than three hours, and it did not reach the ambush area scheduled by our fleet. ”

Admiral Yamamoto frowned, this is indeed an unexpected situation, the US Pacific Fleet, because of the unexpected situation, did not enter its own ambush circle, the ambush at sea is no better than the land, the land can be concealed on the spot, more than 100 warships, in the unobstructed sea, stay for one more minute, the danger of exposure, and when the wind and waves are calm, the US Pacific Fleet will definitely send reconnaissance planes, this is a common sense approach!

Damn the wind and waves, Yamamoto is very strange, the same warship, how can his own fleet, under the same bad conditions, arrive at the designated sea area on time, but the United States can't, is there an unexpected change?

Admiral Yamamoto asked, "Matsuda-kun, the submarine team, have you found any unusual moves in the US Pacific Fleet?" ”

Chief of Staff Matsuda shook his head and returned to the point: "No, so far, the submarine team has not exposed the target. ”

Admiral Yamamoto frowned and pondered, how could this be, where did the problem arise, even if the warships entered by the United States did not dare to sail at high speed, there was a gap of about an hour, it was a normal situation, and when he was formulating the battle plan, he had already taken this aspect of the situation into account, and suddenly, a flash of inspiration flashed in Yamamoto's mind, and he thought of the crux of the problem.

It is the troop carrier that the United States entered, such a strong wind and waves, the troop carrier is no better than a warship, and it does not dare to sail at high speed at all, it is the troop carrier that the United States enters, which has dragged down the speed of the US Pacific Fleet, damn it, a fatal negligence, it will lead the entire campaign plan, and it will not be possible to proceed smoothly, Admiral Yamamoto thought with chagrin, and deeply blamed himself for his own negligence.

In fact, according to the strength of the combined fleet, the number of warships and carrier-based aircraft has an absolute advantage, and even if it goes head-to-head with the US Pacific Fleet, it has a great chance of winning, but this is not the style of play that Admiral Yamamoto wants, and the so-called "killing 1,000 enemies and inflicting 800 self-losses," the US Pacific Fleet, which has three aircraft carriers, will win a crushing victory even if the combined fleet wins in the case of a desperate counterattack!

The timing of the head-on battle with the U.S. fleet is far from ripe, and the five generals Yamamoto, who knows the national strength of the United States, know this very well, he is a brave general, but he is also a wise general, and he ended in a disastrous victory, not the result he wanted, or give up this ambush plan, or stick to it, he thought sharply, all kinds of response plans, one by one, his beloved mind flashed, but they were not perfect.

After thinking for more than ten minutes, Yamamoto gritted his teeth and made up his mind, the fighter plane that had been waiting for a few years had appeared, so he couldn't give up easily, he decisively ordered: "Matsuda-kun, order all warships in the fleet to anchor on the spot, we continue to wait!" ”

Vice Admiral Matsuda was taken aback and hurriedly reminded: "Your Excellency Commander, this is a very risky move, we are too close to the US Pacific Fleet, and the target will be exposed at any time, so that the ambush battle will become an encounter, not the result you want, if the US fleet discovers us and starts attacking before us, the fleet will fall into a very passive situation!" ”

"There is a building in the department, why don't our fleet sail against the US Pacific Fleet, snatch back the delayed time, and launch an attack before the wind and waves subside, before the United States enters, and the effect of ambush can also be achieved!" Chief of Staff Matsuda, in fact, was to change the intended ambush site.

Admiral Yamamoto said with some annoyance: "Matsuda-kun, have you ever thought about it, if according to your construction, the fleet sails against the US Pacific Fleet, calculated according to the time and the sailing speed of the warships of both the enemy and us, then, where is the sea area for engagement?" ”

Yamamoto stepped in front of the map in a few steps, pointed to a sea area, and continued: "It is here, this sea area, is a coral reef with a radius of nearly 100 square kilometers, and warships of more than 2,000 tons will not be able to pass through guò, at that time, our main battleship of the white spoon, separated by coral reefs, can not meet the enemy, can only rely on carrier-based aircraft to attack, in the face of a fleet with three aircraft carriers, dozens of warships, what will be the effect of the attack, you know in your heart, what is the difference between that and a head-on decisive battle?" ”

Looking at the somewhat indifferent Chief of Staff Matsuda, Admiral Yamamoto's tone slowed down slightly, but he still said very unkindly: "After the battle begins, the US Pacific Fleet, which has not been heavily damaged, will definitely not fall in love with the war, and will retreat to the direction of Hawaii Island at full speed. ”

"It is almost no heavy loss of strength, the US Pacific Fleet, the first aircraft carrier formation of Rear Admiral Masa-kage-summoned, only has two aircraft carriers and twenty-six warships, the enemy is outnumbered, Rear Admiral Masa-sa suffers a big loss, and if our White Spoon main fleet continues to pursue, it will have to bypass that coral reef, at least more than an hour behind the U.S. Pacific Fleet, and when we arrive, the first aircraft carrier formation, I'm afraid there will not be a few warships left, even if it is the end, the U.S. Pacific Fleet will be completely annihilated, but such a victory, Is it what I need? ”

General Yamamoto's voice was not high, and his tone was not very stern, but fine beads of sweat had oozed from the head of Chief of Staff Matsuda, and he said in a loud voice: "General, you have learned a great lesson, the department has been taught, and it is the department that has considered the problem simply, but, General, shall we wait like this?" ”

Yamamoto raised his head fiercely, his eyes were beating with fierce flames, his tone suddenly increased, and he said: "No, passive waiting, it is extremely stupid, partially change the battle plan, the main fleet from now on, enter a state of first-level combat readiness, order the fleet meteorological director, every thirty minutes, to report to the headquarters the situation of the bad weather, we must rush before the United States enters, launch an attack!" ”

"Order the submarine squadron and carrier-based aircraft formation, after launching an air attack on the US Pacific Fleet, abandon the original task of striking US aircraft carriers, and instead focus on striking the frigates on the periphery of the US Pacific Fleet aircraft carriers, tear open a hole in their air defense fire nets, order all warships of the main fleet, change the targets of the strikes, let go of the US troop carriers, mainly to attack the US escort warships, and order Rear Admiral Masa Kage's First Aircraft Carrier Formation, the original mission was changed, and the target of the attack was the US troop carriers, Chief of Staff Matsuda, Deliver my orders! ”

A series of orders to make me dizzy, in fact, the ambush plan originally formulated by General Yamamoto has changed beyond recognition, correspondingly, the entire plan has also been completely adjusted, the only thing that has not changed is that the original ambush sea area, after the unexpected situation appears, according to the actual situation, quickly make corresponding adjustments, but did not change the original target of destroying the enemy, Yamamoto 56's command ability, it can be seen, even more ruthless!

At about 5:30 a.m. on July 4, the winds and waves in the eastern Pacific Ocean, which had been noisy for almost a night, gradually subsided.

The commander of the US Navy's Pacific Fleet, Vice Admiral Fallwood, had almost never slept all night, and the damn wind and waves had delayed the fleet's voyage for more than three hours, and for Vice Admiral Harrison, commander of the Second Army, who was desperately waiting for reinforcements, for more than three hours, I don't know how many American soldiers had died under the bullets and shells of the Japanese invasion.

Vice Admiral Folwood, who rubbed his sour eyes and looked more and more haggard, ordered: "Convey my order, immediately send a group of carrier-based reconnaissance planes, with the fleet as the center, to reconnoiter all the sea areas within a radius of two hundred nautical miles, and do not let go of any suspicious targets, communications officer, immediately inform Commander Harrison, in more than ten hours, the fleet will be able to reach Hawaii Island!" ”

Vice Admiral Harrison must be informed of this situation, otherwise, the landing force of the Second Army, which is eager to penetrate the Second Army, may be in disarray, and the mixed formation of troop carriers and fleets will itself limit the fleet's mobile combat capability.

More than forty minutes ago, the commander of the Combined Fleet of the Japanese Navy. Fifth General Yamamoto, energetic and neatly dressed, stood on the control tower, looked at the sea that had not yet been completely calm, and said to Vice Admiral Matsuda, chief of staff, without looking back: "Matsuda-kun, convey my order, all carrier-based aircraft, divided into two waves to take off, launch an attack on the US Pacific Fleet, order all warships in the headquarters, sail at the highest speed, and quickly meet the enemy!" ”

More than 100 nautical miles apart, the two fleets of Japan and the United States, without one side being aware of it, quickly approached, the course of the US Pacific Fleet was in the direction of Hawaii Island, and the direction of the attack of the Japanese Navy Combined Fleet was from the left front wing of the US Pacific Fleet formation, obliquely inserted, like a katana suddenly unsheathed, with coldness and cruelty, with a dignified murderous and bloodthirsty **, suddenly stabbed!

At the tip of the knife are more than 200 carrier-based fighters, torpedo bombers, and dive bombers of the Japanese Navy that took off from six aircraft carriers.

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