General Nagumo Tadaichi has always believed that he is the commander with the best understanding of naval aviation in the world, and thanks to his and Yamamoto's efforts, Japan's naval aviation was once the largest in the world, with the most powerful Zero fighter and 2,000 elite pilots who have been tested in battle.

But in the face of the US Navy's dense carrier-based aircraft attack echelon, a pale sense of powerlessness made him almost unable to keep his body in a standing position.

Just now, his flagship aircraft carrier, the USS Akagi, was hit by a bomb dropped by an American plane, leaving a huge hole in the deck, although it did not cause a fire or explosion, but it completely deprived the aircraft carrier of the ability to continue taking off planes for combat.

Although his battleship did not sink like the battleship Mississippi and capsized like the Hyuga, in this naval battle, it was already destined that there would be no more stage for the aircraft carrier Akagi to play, because it was already out of the game because of this bomb that did not hurt the bones.

"Yaga Ya Road! It's just a bomb, can't it really be repaired?" Nagumo Tadaichi frowned and asked the damage management commander on the Akagi aircraft carrier, "You must know that this battle is very important for the Great Japanese Empire!"

The officer bowed his head and replied solemnly: "Your Excellency, General, I really can't repair the damaged deck in a short time, even if I do my best to repair it, heaven, heaven...... It's almost dark, and you still won't be able to take off your fighter plane after two hours. ”

Yes, even if the damaged soldiers rushed to repair the aircraft carrier, the aircraft carrier would not be able to fight at night, then the Japanese Navy's fleet would still have to use two aircraft carriers to confront the superior strength of the US military. Nagumo Zhong was shaken, he didn't know whether to retreat at this time, or whether he should stick to this position.

"Send a telegram to Marshal Yamamoto and ask him if we should continue to fight where we are, or can we retreat temporarily?" Nagumo Tadaichi himself couldn't make up his mind, so he had to come up with a trick that although stupid, it would never go wrong: ask his superior, Marshal Yamamoto Isoroku.

You can't go wrong by asking your superiors more about everything, right? That's what Nagumo Tadaichi thinks now. As everyone knows, the pressure on Zhanben's side is greater than his here, he is at least still fighting, and Yamamoto's side is biting and desperately approaching the American fleet.

Nagumo Tadaichi didn't know the United States, he didn't know how terrible the United States was in World War II, he didn't know that at the end of World War II, the United States mobilized more than 10 million soldiers, produced hundreds of aircraft carriers, and didn't know that tens of thousands of tanks were produced by American factories and flooded the Japanese Empire.

Now he even found that he did not know his opponent, he only knew that the commander of the American fleet was called Spruance, and this was already one of the few American intelligence he had obtained, and this intelligence gathering efficiency made the commander of the Japanese naval aviation hairs stand on end and have an indescribable sense of danger.

The Japanese were good at understanding their opponents, and they sent thousands of spies to infiltrate China to gather intelligence before fighting the Sino-Japanese War with the Qing government. Even what these spies reported, most of the Chinese do not know very thoroughly.

From the total amount of weapons produced by the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau, to the mobilization mechanism of the whole of China at that time, the war preparations of the bureaucracy and the army, and the determination of the top power classes to fight, etc. The all-encompassing collection of these spies was compiled into a detailed report on the situation in China, which became the first-hand information of the Japanese military's study of China.

It was with such detailed intelligence that Japan won the Sino-Japanese First Sino-Japanese War, which had no great disparity in strength, and completed its rise. And now Japan does not know the United States, it does not even know that the new aircraft carrier produced by the United States is about to be built, and it does not know the actual size of the American fleet.

From the news that had just been fed back from the first wave of attack aircraft formations, Nagumo Tadaichi had received information that he did not know before: The US fleet's aircraft carriers were not four or five as the Japanese had estimated in advance, but had as many as seven, and this made it impossible for Nagumo Tadaichi's fleet to complete its ongoing mission -- he underestimated the Americans' air defense and attack forces.

After the war between the Americans and the Japanese, counter-espionage measures were carried out. The first is to control the entire population of Japanese descent in the United States to prevent them from sabotage and espionage by adversaries. Even Chinese and Southeast Asian people in the United States have been restricted from their activities, and all Asians have lost the right to move freely in the United States.

As a result, the intelligence network set up by the Japanese in the United States was completely paralyzed, and it was no longer possible to detect the slightest bit of American intelligence. This asymmetry of information has made Japan a completely blind wolf, and although it is fierce, it can only run around like a headless fly.

"The intelligence agencies are incompetent. The Americans already have such a huge aircraft carrier fleet, and they even swear to me that the Americans only have four aircraft carriers!" Nagumo Zhongichi smiled bitterly, watching the rescuers around the deck crater, rushing to repair the deck of the damaged Akagi aircraft carrier, and muttered: "I have lost 40 aircraft, and if I go on like this, it will really be over." ”

The inability of the aircraft carrier Akagi to take off its own planes has caused the strength of the Japanese naval aviation to drop by half at once, and now it is a great luck that Japan's second wave of attack echelon can gather 30 aircraft. However, judging from the current scale of the US naval aviation, it is estimated that if these 30 planes really take off to attack, it will almost be a fate with no return.

You can't back down at such a time! This is what Nagumo Tadaichi thinks. In this case, even if you run away with an iron heart, the end will definitely not be much better, it is really better to work sideways, fight to the death with the opponent, and the net will be broken. Anyway, he can leave a reputation for fighting to the death, so that he will not be scolded by later generations as a coward who is greedy for life and afraid of death.

Nagumo Tadaichi's hand unconsciously shook the command knife he was carrying at his waist, and then made up his mind to fight for a better chance for Yamamoto Isoroku with the destruction of his fleet. So he looked at his adjutant and gave the order to continue the attack: "Order the two aircraft carriers, the Ryucha and the Kaga, to take off their planes and launch a second surprise attack on the US Navy's aircraft carrier fleet! Long live the Great Japanese Empire! Long live His Majesty the Emperor! The Eight Hundred Gods will bless Japan's military fortune for a long time!"

At this time, the first wave of American attack aircraft had returned, so the Japanese naval fleet was also saving its broken fleet on the battlefield: two destroyers were burning in smoke, a cruiser could now only see one bow still floating on the water, the escort ships of the Japanese Navy paid a heavy price for ensuring the safety of the aircraft carrier, and countless sailors waited for the salvage of the rescue ships.

Nagumo Tadaichi didn't know how far the 30 planes of the second wave of attack aircraft could go, but he still prayed that these planes could easily sink two American aircraft carriers and complete the unprecedented reversal of the entire battlefield. At this time, his palms were full of sweat, and I don't know if it was because of nervousness or because the weather was too hot.

"Boom!" Just when Nagumo Tadaichi was considering whether to replace the flagship with the Kaga aircraft carrier, which was still operating, the aircraft carrier Akagi had a slight explosion, and I don't know why a plane suddenly exploded and damaged a very important elevator on the aircraft carrier.

"There's nothing more to hesitate, send a signal to Kaga, I'm going to transfer the command there. Nagumo Zhongyi looked at the elevator on the deck of the smoking aircraft carrier, and glanced at his subordinates behind him: "Hurry up and put the dinghy! We are running out of time." ”

After the order was finished, he looked at the captain of the Akagi aircraft carrier again, and then arranged: "I have arranged it, the destroyer Shiyu will provide cover to protect you all the way to the west, and retreat back to the mainland first." Please wait for news of our victory, long live the Great Japanese Empire!"

"Hey!" the captain didn't know if he was excited because he heard that he could get out of the way and felt safe for the time being, or because he heard the slogan Long live the Japanese Empire. In short, he was very excited and bent down, bowed his head to Nanyun Zhongyi and said, "Your Excellency General, take care too!"

Nagumo Zhong waved his hand, and then he was surrounded by people and walked out of the command bridge. His command flag was lowered slowly and slowly from the flagpole of the aircraft carrier Akagi, and then it was neatly folded together by the two sailors and stacked into a square. Nagumo watched as his flag was put away, then he turned around, and with his entourage, guards, and staff, jumped into the dinghy, and sailed towards the Kaga aircraft carrier on the slightly wavy sea.

What he didn't expect was that this was the last time he left the aircraft carrier Akagi, and it was also the last time that the aircraft carrier Akagi would emerge as his flagship in the Pacific theater.

Half an hour later, the U.S. Navy's air forces swarmed in, and the Japanese Navy's aircraft carrier Ryuchō was the first to be hit by an aerial bomb while dodging a torpedo, and finally capsized in the waters of the Solomon Islands. The destroyer Xuefeng was ordered to rescue the overboard crew on the aircraft carrier Longxiang, and then left the area of engagement. The entire Japanese 1st Air Fleet suffered heavy losses, and the attack aircraft of the US Navy went crazy attacking all the targets they could.

This was followed by rare good news: carrier-based aircraft aboard the Kaga sank an American escort aircraft carrier. But immediately after that, the Japanese Navy waited for the news of the total annihilation of their carrier-based aircraft, and in addition to the 50 carrier-based planes that accompanied the Akagi from the battlefield, the Japanese Navy's carrier-based aircraft had almost all been lost.