Nagumo had to think about how he would explain to Commander Yamamoto, a few days ago, the mobile force was still invincible, but in his own hands, it had shrunk to this morning. Now only one capital aircraft carrier remains, as well as two light aircraft carriers. The whole thing is like boiling a frog in warm water, happening without you knowing.

Nagumo promised the commander that he would bring the entire fleet back safely. Of course, naval battles are full of unknowns, and it is unlikely that there will be no losses, so he did propose a stop-loss figure at that time, but unknowingly, he left this number behind.

The seven main fleet aircraft carriers in his hands (including the two light aircraft carriers of Xiangfeng and Ruifeng) are enough to destroy the main force of the Pacific Fleet of the United States, but after a few days of exchange, the book losses are heavy, and before Xianghe was sunk, Nagumo did not have much sense of crisis, after all, Yamamoto allowed him to carry the opponent with slightly larger losses, but what he expected was definitely not what it is now, and now he only has three aircraft carriers left. Strangely, the two light aircraft carriers he had been secretly determined to exchange for were all preserved unscathed.

Three of the best large aircraft carriers of the Mobile Force were sunk, and the Akagi lost its deck and withdrew from the battle. Only half of the fighters and pilots of the Kaga remained. The combat strength of the entire fleet is only about a third of what it was 4 days ago. At that time, even before the arrival of two light aircraft carriers, he could take off about 350 fighters at any time, and now he can only take off 80 aircraft.

A thought slowly popped up in Nagumo's heart, and he had wiped out the old capital that the Japanese Navy had accumulated for decades? The only thing that sustained him in the game was that the enemy had also been lost.

Nagumo knew that Yamamoto would not give him any instructions, he had to make his own decisions, and if he lost, he would have to carry the black pot himself. He spent two hours thinking about the situation he was facing, the opponent was a mere Yorktown-class aircraft carrier, and if he took it, he could still explain it to the commander. Desperate thoughts haunted him.

A round of Asahi finally rose from the east, and with Asahi came a reconnaissance plane that took off from the Enterprise.

419 detected Halsey turning back, just 30 minutes after sending him the forged telegram.

Halsey went from a lost dog to a gorgeous turn and became the soul of the navy comparable to Nelson. In fact, he himself was a little surprised, and after reading the enemy's telegram, he realized that he fought this counterattack to catch the ducks on the shelf so well? Actually ruined half of the Combined Fleet?

His Yorktown and Enterprise can still take off a hundred fighters, and he is not afraid of fighting his opponent to the death. Another advantage of his is that once another aircraft carrier is destroyed. Pilots in the air can fly to New Caledonia through the Army Navigation Station, and in the fierce fighting these days, quite a few pilots have landed on land, and some have even taken off again from the army airfield to participate in the battles that followed. This is where he has nothing to fear.

Of course, Halsey still did not dare to attack blindly, and he also had some suspicions that the telegram was false, so he was not very close, and before dawn, he took off six reconnaissance planes in advance, and set off to reconnoiter several key suspected areas.

The lack of early warning from the Japanese gave Halsey another chance. The US reconnaissance planes easily found the Nagumo Fleet, which was heading straight for the US fleet. With their backs to a round of Asahi, the American planes dared to approach the reconnaissance and saw the sparkling sea, the Japanese fleet lined up in a huge formation, but there were not many aircraft carriers.

A large aircraft carrier, as well as two aircraft carriers of unknown type further behind. Due to the great loss of the ability of the Nagumo take-off fighters, the US reconnaissance planes were able to get closer, and after careful inspection, they confirmed that one large aircraft carrier was Kaga and the two rear aircraft carriers were light aircraft carriers, and this conclusion was drawn from the comparison between the deck width of the Xiangfeng, which was taking off fighters, and the wingspan of the fighters.

While sending a telegram, the reconnaissance plane turned around and dived to escape. Halsey confirmed that the enemy had only three aircraft carriers left, and he couldn't help but be overjoyed. Ordered to take off a formation of 60 fighters and pounce on the target. He didn't have any superfluous instructions, just asked the pilots to give priority to attacking the large aircraft carrier.

419 turned and left the battlefield, Cheng Dayang didn't care much about the next battle, he felt that he could help Halsey, everything had already been done, and there were no more 419 left*. If Halsey can swap Kaga one-to-one, Yamamoto will have to cry.

For 419, it was imperative to find a place to unlock the ballistic*. Telegrams from both sides have been heard these days indicating that some of the islands off Arafura in northern Australia have just been abandoned by the Allies, and that these islands once had Allied speedboats and submarine bases used to attack Japanese ships in the strait. After the Japanese captured Cape York, these bases lost their value, and MacArthur concentrated the defenders there in the Australian outback in order to shrink his forces. However, the Japanese army did not send troops to take over the islands.

Judging from the course of the campaign, the main direction of attack under the mountain is the prosperous east coast of Australia, and the possibility of an outbreak of landfall on the desolate north coast is very small, so 419 can pick an island there and try to use the port machinery equipment on the island to disassemble and crack it*. The year 1943 is about to come, and there may be huge uncertainties, and the time-travelers may make some * troubles, so they need to be prepared for the worst.

Base camp in Tokyo, Japan. Tojo, who was in a good mood because of the good news in Australia, remembered Makino's matter again, so he interrogated Makino again and asked Kagezo Zhenaki. His idea was to end this farce quickly, send Kage Satsuaki to the reserves, and put Makino in a mental hospital, and the matter would be over. Just because it alarmed the emperor, there must be a plausible explanation.

So far, it has been difficult for Makino to convince Tojo of the evidence, of course, he was able to take off and escape from a few minutes before the Great Eagle was sunk, which still made Tojo feel strange, but strange is strange, Tojo still didn't believe his crossing story, and the part that Makino proposed that the Chinese submarine chased him made Tojo even more convinced. In Tojo's view, China's rise is a more absurd story than traveling through time.

Tojo believes that Makino was able to escape from the Great Eagle because the mentally ill had some foreknowledge abilities that ordinary people do not have.

The most favorable evidence presented by Makino was that the Okaka had indeed received a telegram claiming to be from the Chiyoda, saying that the Chiyoda was about to sink, which was the reason for the Okaka to call back and reveal Makino's location. Makino hopes to use this strange incident to illustrate two things, one is that there is an allied submarine that has crossed over, and it has been getting in the way. Second, the submarine is aimed at itself.

This was indeed a flaw in 419's careful operation, as Makino was not expected to survive. But the entire chain of evidence is still missing. Because the two surviving pilots did not see the telegram, they only knew that Makino was in a hurry and came to ask to take off. And the crew of the Chiyoda can only confirm that they have not sent this telegram.

The hearings continued to be inconclusive, and Tojo felt that Makino could not produce more evidence, but kept repeating the previous crazy words, what* and the Soviet Union would be treacherous and so on. He felt that he didn't have to waste any more time listening to a madman tell him how the war would fail. He adjourned the meeting and released Kagesa Yoshiaki to await a new appointment from the Ministry of the Army, and Makino was transferred to the Army Hospital for a brain examination. After arranging everything, he solemnly warned the officials present not to form some small groups behind his back and hinder the jihad because of the crazy words of a madman. In addition, the Makino incident must be kept strictly secret, so as not to spread the word and be ridiculed by the enemy country.

Seeing a desperate counterattack, the matter ended without a hitch, and Kagesa, who had regained his freedom, went to Kishi Nobusuke's house disappointed. He cautiously circled around the neighborhood to make sure he wasn't stalking before entering through the back door. However, it seems that there is no Tokyo Gendarmerie or anyone from the Special High School in the vicinity to monitor it.

When he entered the house, he found that Kishi Nobusuke and Ishihara were already waiting for him. But the expressions on the faces of the two were strange, and there was no disappointment to be seen.

What a vigilant man Kagesa was, he knew that there must be a reason for it, he couldn't say anything, and waited for the servant to serve tea and leave, and finally, there were only three people left in the house.

"Ying Zuo-kun, how do you feel different when you go to the house today?" Nobusuke Kishi asked.

"It seems that there is no secret whistle outside the door to follow you?"

"Sure enough, it's intelligence." Ishihara laughed.

Kagesa knew that there must be something to be said to this question. He waited patiently.

"Duke Konoe and Ito of the Intelligence Agency are on our side." Ishihara said.

"Is it Ito who transferred the special high class?"

"Not bad. Duke Konoe was in the middle, prompting us to reach an understanding with Tojo, that he would no longer pursue us, and that we would abandon Makino. ”

"But ......" The more Kagesa listened, the more he felt that there was something going on, since he met Ishihara last year, he hadn't seen him so optimistic, and he had talked so much.

"Oh, we agreed to Tojo's terms, but it was just a delaying tactic...... We already have a plan. Ishihara continued.

"No matter what the plan, it has to be fast, we don't have much time." Kagesa said.

"yes, time, time." While Kishi Nobusuke chattered leisurely.

"So it's just the right moment." Ishihara said suddenly.

"Are you going to kill Tojo?"

Kagesa Zhenzhao's acuity surprised the two people present.

"Yes, killing Tojo with an assassination attempt has become the only way out," Kishi Nobusuke said, "and then, Konoe will take over as prime minister, and General Ishihara will become Minister of War, and the current situation can be reversed with minimal cost." ”

"Turn the tide? Suing for peace with Britain and the United States will no longer work. ”

"Yes, the best opportunity has been missed, in order to prevent a big mistake, the only conservative way is to shrink the defense first, and in a limited time, the limited national strength will be used rationally, and the United States will get nuclear weapons out." Ishihara said.

"But all this is still in the air, and if the assassination of Tojo is not carried out carefully, it may lead to a civil war in the army."

"Of course, there is a risk, so Deputy Chief Okumura proposes that you carry out this operation. We have already identified several suitable candidates from the Duck's Nest Prison, all of whom are guilty of many crimes and will not repent of their deaths, and it will be easy for them to cover up when the time comes. ”