The reason why Horiyoshi was so moved to tears was, of course, the many crises faced by the decoy fleet - slow speed, low defense capability, division of troops and action in broad daylight, it was almost a "death" banner on the door of his head, but it would not work if he didn't do this, because Halsey refused to divide his troops yesterday, and still took 550 planes to act in a group - if he refused to divide his troops all the time, he or Tsunoda would not be able to eat it, and even he and Tsunoda together might not be able to eat it easily, so he had to throw bait to the opponent, Let him think that there is an opportunity to divide the army. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

Before the decoy fleet separated, Horikichi had telegraphed Tsunoda and Tsukahara to inform them of the change of formation and asked them to adjust accordingly according to the current position of Halsey: Tsukahara accelerated to the north, and Tsunoda adjusted course and accelerated to make peace with the decoy fleet.

Fifteen minutes later, Tsukahara sent a telegram informing the fleet that it was still nearly 1,300 kilometers away from the Halsey fleet, and that even at maximum speed (25 knots of the Nagato), it would be difficult to reach the strike position by this evening, and hoped that the total attack time would be placed tomorrow morning.

Halsey knew that there was a Japanese fleet behind him, but he lost news of the fleet after the other party left Mexican waters, and he didn't know that Tsukahara had been struggling to catch up, and subconsciously thought that this fleet was still far away. Tsukahara carried out the last refueling operation before leaving Panama, filling up all the fuel of the warship with tankers, and then letting the tankers stand by on the Galapagos Island under the protection of some warships, while he himself led the main force north, and the speed of the journey exceeded 23 knots in a day, but he was much more restrained than Tsunoda, although he also rushed at high speed, but he did not speed - never drove to more than 25 knots.

From the afternoon of the 26th, after more than 60 hours of chasing, he has narrowed the distance with Halsey from 1,900 kilometers to less than 1,300 kilometers, although it is still a little far, but it is no longer out of reach.

Based on the information revealed in this telegram, Matsuda Chiaki was hesitant to carry out the "bait" strategy and get closer to Tsukahara, but Hori still firmly ordered it to be carried out -- because if the U.S. forces did not divide their forces tonight and the Second Air War could not be replenished, there would be major problems along the way north tomorrow -- and it might not be easy to pump Musashi and King Kong oil at that time.

"William, another Japanese fleet has been discovered, with 2 regular aircraft carriers, 2 battleships......" McCain called out in surprise, "it's the fleet that attacked Seattle." ”

At 14:38 that afternoon, the TF50 fleet finally found the Tsunoda fleet that had been searching for a long time. It was not because the US military reconnaissance plane suddenly exerted force, but because after receiving Horiyoshi's telegram, Tsunoda boldly adjusted its course to 225 degrees, and after several hours of driving, the distance between him and Halsey was rapidly shortened, and finally the US military reconnaissance plane made a discovery at the distance that Tsunoda pressed to 960 kilometers.

Of course, Tsunoda is taking a risk by doing this, but he also has a lot of confidence:

First, the 29 planes supplied to him by Hori Ichichi have landed safely, and now the two Yunlong-class ships of the Second Air War are basically full, with a total of 141 aircraft, and if Halsey forms a fast column, the strength of the two sides can be worthy of a battle;

Second, Hori sent a decoy formation and drove at 45 degrees, and the course of the second voyage battle was 225 degrees, and the two sides met head to head and drove in opposite directions; The speed of the decoy fleet is 15 knots, and the distance between the two sides is shortened to only 970 kilometers in less than 5 hours, especially after the separation of the decoy fleet from the five air wars. If the current speed is maintained, the distance between the two sides will be further reduced to 750 kilometers by the time the sun sets at 6:30 a.m.

On the surface, if the gap is continued to be shortened at this rate, it will not be possible to converge by dawn the next day. But Tsunoda had already thought about it very clearly, this speed was not the maximum speed, and there was room for improvement: he was going to risk speeding up his fleet after dark, using the last bit of fuel to soar above 27 knots, and then ask the decoy fleet to increase the speed to 16 knots (the maximum speed), and the two fleets continued to maintain the same course, making a combined top speed of 43 knots.

According to this strategy, the distance between the two sides can be shortened by 80 kilometers per hour, and it will only take nine and a half hours to meet -- the two sides will meet at about 4 a.m. on the 30th and start refueling operations.

Arima Masafumi was convinced that all the fuel supplies could be completed within four hours, so that by 8 o'clock in the morning, the Second Air War would not only be fully refueled, but would also be able to obtain the carrier-based aircraft strength of the decoy fleet -- an additional 68 fighters, and it would be more certain to carry out the fleet's direct cover air defense.

Tsunoda bet that Halsey would not be able to hit him at 8 o'clock in the morning: because it was getting dark at 6:30 a.m., the US military had to reconnoiter and determine its own direction before dispatching planes, and it was impossible to arrive before 8 o'clock at the earliest, even though the distance between the two sides might be between 400 and 500 kilometers at that time.

Just when Halsey, McCain, and their staff officers were judging whether to send a fast column to fight Tsunoda first in the face of the new situation, at 15:04, another reconnaissance plane reported that it had discovered the Japanese fleet, with a course of 45 degrees and a speed of 15 knots, and the size of the fleet was smaller than that suggested by the Hawaii Army Aviation reconnaissance intelligence, and it was 975 kilometers away from the TF50 fleet.

The Japanese army has divided its troops! It was an idea that came to Halsey and McCain's mind, and now the TF50 was faced with a number of options at once:

First, organize a fast column to eat the Japanese decoy fleet, and the staff officers suggested that if the fast column rushes at a speed of about 30 knots, the gap between the two sides can be narrowed to within 800 kilometers at about 5 o'clock in the evening, and basically the last sunset can be used to launch an attack, but it can only return at night;

second, to organize a fast column to eat the Tsunoda fleet, the fast column also advanced at a speed of 30 knots, and at 16:45 the distance between each other could be reduced to about 770 kilometers, ensuring that it could hit the opponent before dark, but it could still only return at night;

Thirdly, we should still maintain the momentum of the whole army and move towards the expected rendezvous point of the Japanese army, so that the distance between them can be reduced to about 450-500 kilometers at 7 o'clock tomorrow morning.

Fourth, organize a rapid column to press up but not attack today, and reduce the sortie distance to within 150 kilometers at dawn tomorrow.

Fifth, organize a fast column to attack, no matter what the results of the battle, after nightfall the fast column turns around or waits in place, and continues to join forces with the escort aircraft carrier formation.

How to choose?

Halsey was in a dilemma, and his first thought after discovering Tsunoda was to organize a fast column to attack Kakuda, but after the appearance of the decoy fleet, not only did the situation change drastically, but also made the decision undecided.

The biggest problem facing TF50 now is that the two enemy forces are not too weak, and the organization of a fast column must be pressed together by 2 ships to be sure enough, if the 2 Essex classes are scattered to attack both ends, they may not be able to eat either end, so the ensuing counterattack will be very amazing - he can hit the opponent, and the opponent can also hit him!

Halsey was not clear about one detail: Although the Japanese decoy fleet appeared to have seven "aircraft carriers," it actually had only 68 fighters and no offensive capability -- something that no reconnaissance plane could see. Now the decoy fleet looks like it's a little shrunk, but it's still there.

He asked McCain's opinion, and the latter couldn't say which plan was best, but he looked at the problem from a different angle: "William, it's not that simple, why should the enemy divide his forces?" We can't even find an opponent without dividing our forces and adjusting our routes, and after the division of troops, did the original Japanese fleet also organize a fast column similar to ours? -- There is no reliable information yet, this is a snake entrenched in the shadows, and if we act rashly, we are likely to be bitten hard. ”

Halsey was shocked, and suddenly thought that this was also a very terrible prospect -- the Pacific Fleet, which was at a disadvantage, would not dare to play a 1:1 match with Japan, and if the Japanese army exchanged two or even three Yunlong classes for his two Essex-class, the remaining warships of the TF50 fleet would be destroyed.

McCain then analyzed: "If I'm not mistaken, the fleet that attacked Seattle should be able to drive at more than 25 knots at full speed, why did it only use 16 knots to advance slowly? Is it deliberately confusing us? ”

The reason why the Tsunoda fleet did not go fast was not because it did not want to be fast, but because it ran out of gas - this kind of bloody thing could not be estimated even if Halsey and McCain wanted to break their heads, and McCain could only infer that it was a conspiracy.

"I probably understand your thoughts, the enemy revealed part of his strength yesterday to lure us into dividing our troops, but we were not fooled; Today, I will deliberately expose another detachment, and then divide the main force of the attack on Pearl Harbor Fleet to lure us into dividing our troops, once I organize a fast column to pounce, including the Japanese fast column in the shadows, we will soon work together to pounce and eat my vanguard......" Halsey pointed to the chart, "The enemy can organize two fast columns, but our army can only organize one; Enemy pilots are not afraid to return at night, but most of our pilots cannot. In the same way, fast columns are organized, and the enemy has more and more favorable conditions than ours. ”

"I didn't think about the night flight just now, but you reminded me." McCain sighed with palpitations, "This is insidious...... I bet the commander of the Japanese army must have been Horikichi! Only he could have come up with so many ideas. ”

Halsey could only smile bitterly at this, and the bitter fruits of the loss of too many elite pilots finally broke out in full force, and now the war is tied: it is not possible to fight far away, not at night, and not in large aircraft formations...... If in the past, when there were many pilots and many aircraft carriers in the fleet, he might have gambled regardless of the risks, as long as he could kill and injure the enemy, there would be no other problems.

At present, he does not dare to risk the few pilots and warships he has left, and the strength of the Combined Fleet is now surpassing not only that of the Pacific Fleet, but even of the US Navy as a whole; even if he believes that the United States has infinite potential, it is simply unable to parry it in a short period of time, and the United States is not only the enemy of Japan, but also has the Axis Combined Fleet eyeing the Atlantic, and it is reported that the Combined Fleet has reached the depths of the North Atlantic, and it is not known where it will go, and Washington is very nervous.

He was convinced that the fate that awaited him and the tens of thousands of officers and men of the TF50 fleet would be an abyss......