After discussion, the two came up with a solution: First, Doolittle sent a reconnaissance plane to take photographs, and naval professionals would study how many Japanese warships there were on the sea based on the photographs, which would be more accurate; Second, on behalf of the Navy, Ingram will "synthesize" these contradictory and bullshit war reports and inform Washington and Halsey of relatively reliable information -- it is really difficult for the commander of the Pacific Fleet. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

Based on the advice of the staff officers and based on his own experience, Ingram comprehensively reported a composition of the Japanese fleet that he considered more reliable:

more than 25 aircraft carriers of various types, including 6-8 fleet aircraft carriers;

1-2 battleships (battle cruisers);

light and heavy cruisers 14-16 units;

more than 60 auxiliary warships such as destroyers and frigates;

It is expected that there will be 700-800 aircraft of various types.

The final figure was purely an Ingram estimate, but Doolittle thought it was reliable: wouldn't 25 carriers even have 700-800 aircraft? In the early morning, the Japanese army had sent two huge attack groups, with a total of more than 400 planes (actually more than 340), and the air defense reported that there were several hundred planes, plus some reserves, 700-800 planes was a natural conclusion.

Taking a step back, assuming that these 25 aircraft carriers are all American Casablanca-class escort carriers, there will be almost 750 aircraft! Didn't Halsey's TF50 fleet also carry 2 Essex-class + 12 Casablanca-class, with nearly 550 aircraft? It is normal for the Japanese army to have 700-800 aircraft.

Based on this judgment, the two appropriately shrunk the reported results:

During the Pearl Harbor air defense operation, our army shot down nearly 220 enemy planes (the actual total loss of the first and second attack waves was less than 120 planes), the first round of counterattacks shot down more than 70 opponents (less than 20 planes in fact), and the overall shot down of 300 Japanese planes of various types, and it is estimated that the opponent has 400-500 planes left;

During the counterattack operation, our army invested a total of 179 attack aircraft and bombers of various types, and sank 1 enemy escort aircraft carrier, 1-2 cruisers, and 2-3 destroyers;

damaged 1-2 cruisers and destroyers;

Another 2-3 warships of indeterminate type were damaged.

The overall losses of our aircraft are relatively large, and reinforcements are needed.

As a result of Ingram's effective "shrinkage," the results were somewhat closer to the actual level, but they were still much higher, but fortunately, the method of "overestimating and overestimating the results of the battle" was adopted, and the final conclusion was relatively accurate -- Horiyoshi still had 439 planes of all kinds in his hands, which fell exactly in the range of 400 to 500 planes.

This figure and the estimated hostile situation shocked everyone when they reported to Washington. Dewey, who rushed to the Joint Chiefs of Staff when he heard the news, was even more annoyed, believing that the Army Aviation was derelict in its duty -- why did such a huge fleet not discover and warn in advance? Arnold couldn't say that during this time, in order to protect the TF50 and the receiving transport fleet leaving the port, Hawaii focused on guarding against the east and south sides of Hawaii, and Horiyoshi only entered the 900-kilometer air defense circle in the evening, and the army aviation did not know anything at all.

Seeing this scale, Spruance's face became ugly: "In this way, assuming that the Japanese army still has 400-500 planes left, Hawaii's air force will not be enough." ”

He analyzed it very carefully: Hawaii had more than 1,400 planes before the war, lost more than 160 HNA planes in the port, nearly 70 fighters were shot down in the Japanese raid, more than 300 planes were destroyed on the ground for various reasons (the fuel depot was destroyed and the Japanese army directly destroyed), and then more than 100 planes were lost in the first round of sorties just now, and nearly 550 planes were hung up in one go, leaving less than 900 planes. After deducting more than 140 water reconnaissance, transport planes, and reconnaissance planes of various types, only a little more than 700 planes are really capable of fighting.

He came to a rather helpless conclusion: "The advantage of 700vs400-500 is not obvious, considering the difference in the level of pilots between Japan and the United States, I think that even if our army loses all, the Japanese army can still be at least half!" ”

Arnold nodded in agreement, Pearl Harbor Army Airlines was originally quite elite, but a while ago, the replacement of oil tankers with crew members led to a great loss of land aviation -- those who can fly long distances are all skilled crews, and after replenishing a group of novices, their quality has plummeted. If you really use 700 to fight 400-500, I am afraid that it is indeed as Spruance said, according to the 3:1 exchange ratio, all of our side will die, and Japan will have 200 left.

However, Spruance did not advise to give up, on the contrary, he said: "This is an extremely severe test, but at the same time it is also a good opportunity, in this situation, the huge Japanese fleet can no longer be quietly withdrawn, in the continuous offensive its fleet losses will certainly not be small, I suggest send the Halsey fleet to cooperate with the Hawaiian defenders to destroy the enemy, he still has more than 500 planes in his hands, plus our army can have a 3:1 aircraft superiority." ”

"How to solve the problem of Pearl Harbor fuel?" Clark was worried, "I heard that the central fuel depot and heavy oil depot have all been blown up, can they still support a counterattack?" ”

"The 300,000 tons of all kinds of fuel at Pearl Harbor are indeed about the same, but there are still some left in other island bases, and there is no problem in supporting hundreds of planes to fight back, it is really not enough, and the day after tomorrow, I will ask the strategic airlift force to urgently send a batch of fuel and aircraft parts."

Arnold had no choice but to nod and agree: now that the two presidents (Truman and Dewey) are on the verge of going berserk, and the pressure on all aspects of the Joint Staff is also like a mountain, the army can only grit its teeth and stand up, and Spruance said that sending the fleet over for reinforcements can finally reduce the pressure on the army aviation.

Nimitz hesitated when he heard this suggestion, and Lehi knew what he was worried about: he was afraid that Halsey would not be able to defeat the Japanese fleet, and now there was not only this huge fleet that suddenly appeared on the west coast, but also two fleets next to it, and it would be certain death to rush up and attack.

He scolded angrily in his heart: What a hell, who in the world is the first in industrial strength and shipbuilding capacity? How did Japan manage to save so many warships without making a sound?

But Lehi felt that he had to go, even if the Halsey fleet ran out: Hawaii was not only American territory, but also home to the headquarters of the Pacific Fleet, the most important base of the Navy, and it was the Navy's duty to defend it. If the navy is always hiding and always letting the army air force defend, attack, and counterattack, the navy will lose its value of existence -- in the future, the United States will not need the navy, and all the funds will be given to the air force! If this situation really occurs, then will he Lehi not be scolded to death by the navy in the future? Maybe Admiral Kim will be killed from the hospital!

He glanced at Nimitz, who of course understood his thoughts, and struggled for a long time, and finally said with difficulty: "I agree with the TF50 to go north of Pearl Harbor to counterattack, but pay attention to safety." In addition, all submarines on the West Coast, no matter where they are now, will gather in the direction of Hawaii to attack! ”

Seeing the size of the Japanese fleet reported by Washington and Pearl Harbor, Halsey and McCain were also taken aback -- this strength is not only stronger than the TF50, but also stronger than the combined forces of the Atlantic and Pacific fleets, but after hearing that their side has destroyed nearly 300 planes of the opponent and that the Japanese army still has 400-500 planes left, Halsey nodded solemnly: This sortie is barely convincing!

Because it was an official order from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and because he already knew about the explosion of the fuel depot at Pearl Harbor and the fire in the whole city, McCain was also enraged, and he said to Halsey: "William, we should go on the attack and avenge the innocent people of Pearl Harbor!" ”

At 9:57, Halsey ordered the fleet to change its course from due north to northwest, 800 kilometers north of Pearl Harbor.

Beginning at 10 o'clock, the US attack group launched a second wave of counterattacks, and according to Doolittle's request, all HNA was temporarily assigned to the command of the Army Air and assembled at several other air bases -- the air facilities at Pearl Harbor were not to be counted on.

Now that the support fleet is getting farther and farther away from Hawaii, and the US forces have begun to take longer to attack, the second attack wave of Takashi Ekosa has landed on the last four regular aircraft carriers after losing 34 planes -- before they landed, the remaining nearly 50 fighters of the first attack wave have been replenished and taken off again, enriching the direct cover group, keeping the number of direct cover groups at about 120, and also releasing some of the fighters with ammunition and excessive fuel consumption to land on several auxiliary aircraft carriers to replenish them.

The second wave of the US counterattack finally fought in a somewhat orderly manner, no longer in groups of 40 or 50 planes, but concentrated to more than 80 planes, but due to strength and marshalling problems, it was impossible to assemble a large formation of more than 200 planes to press it over, and only two formations of about 170 planes were concentrated to attack. The Japanese desperately intercepted, but this time the American counterattack caused a lot of damage:

The escort aircraft carrier Yataka was hit by a 2,000-pound bomb and sank, and Kamakura Maru, who was wounded in the first round, was hit again and abandoned the ship, which sank soon after; The escort aircraft carrier sank 1, and the more than 6,000 tons of fuel carried were all reimbursed without much use, and the corners of Matsuda Chiaki's mouth twitched but there was nothing he could do; One of the aircraft transports sank, but fortunately there were no planes on it, and Chiaki Matsuda had no choice but to go with him - and finally attract firepower.

heavy cruiser Ibuki Chusso;

The light cruiser Kawauchi sank;

The destroyers Haifeng and Chunyu (both of which belong to the Bailu class), Chaochao, and Dachao (all of which belong to the Chaochao class) were sunk or severely damaged and abandoned; The Japanese also lost 38 fighters, but 23 pilots were rescued under desperate escort from S-boats and destroyers.

In order to achieve this result, only 54 of the more than 170 US planes that attacked returned in the end! This time, the results they reported to Ingram and Doolittle were even more exaggerated:

sunk 5-6 aircraft carriers, damaged 2-3 ships;

sank 1 battleship and damaged 1-2 ships;

sank 2-3 light and heavy cruisers, damage unknown;

sank more than 6 destroyers, damaged 2-3 ships, and 3 unknown results;

In addition, more than 100 Japanese planes were shot down (38 were actually killed).

Now that Ingram had obtained the urgent photographs taken by the reconnaissance plane, he was not so easily deceived, and Doolittle did not believe that the results were so brilliant - of course, it was necessary to affirm them on the surface, otherwise up to two-thirds of the casualties would not be able to hold on to them, and the two discussed how to report the results.