At 7:58, Halsey received information that the two Japanese fleets (Tsunoda and Yano) had completely converged, about 960 kilometers from the main fleet, and that they had not discovered the farther Five-Air War due to the range and interception by Japanese fighters. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

This was expected by him and McCain, and just as the two were discussing the preparation of the switch to shortening the offensive distance, at 8:09, the shocking news came:

One submarine reported at dawn that the Japanese fleet was sailing by, and the specific model was not clear, and under its guidance, Ingram and Doolittle sent four targeted reconnaissance planes, and finally made some gains -- the Japanese fleet was discovered about 1,800 kilometers east-northeast of Hawaii Island, and about 80 kilometers after that, a large group of battleships flocked to the north, including two majestic super battleships.

Converted to the position of the Halsey fleet, there is a Japanese fleet 880 kilometers south-southeast of it, heading due north, with a speed of up to 30 knots, and has 3 fleet carriers.

"This is the enemy's main fleet!" McCain exclaimed.

Halsey was in a hurry, and this information immediately put the TF50 fleet in a dilemma of being attacked by the Japanese on both sides -- the Horiyoshi and Tsunoda fleets in the north-west and the Tsukahara fleet in the south-southeast, each of which was not weak.

Broken!

The battle situation suddenly turned out to be very ugly, and everyone was dumbfounded: if you want to deal with the strengthened Japanese army on the Western Front, you must pull out most of your strength to fight, but in this way, before this group of attack groups returns, the enemy forces on the southern front will come over, and vice versa.

And it is not advisable to divide the troops, and the division of troops to attack on both sides means that neither side can win, and can only be sent to death in vain. Although the reconnaissance planes did not report in detail on the types of fleet aircraft carriers that Tsukahara possessed, it is easy to know that the adversary has two Shozuru-class aircraft carriers and one newly-built, seemingly larger fleet aircraft carrier, which is said to be an armored aircraft carrier.

The staff immediately believed that the fleet had 240-250 aircraft.

"William, in the face of the flanking attack of the superior enemy army, we can only retreat."

"Back off? Where to retreat? ”

"Retreat to the east...... Return to the West Coast, relying on land-based protection. ”

"No, I can't retreat, the fleet turns to the southeast and moves at full speed!"

McCain was anxious: "William, now is not the time to be rash, you have to be calm." ”

"I'm calm." Halsey's face was very calm, "We have no chance to retreat to the west coast, the escort aircraft carrier can't run fast, and it will soon be overtaken!" Can I leave them alone and run back? ”

McCain was speechless, losing 12 escort aircraft carriers and running away on his own, not to mention that Halsey couldn't do it, he couldn't do it - this is going to be scolded for the rest of his life! How will I meet people when I go out in the future?

"When the narrow road meets, the brave wins, we must rush over first, quickly shorten the distance with the main Japanese fleet, and then release the attack group to defeat the fleet in the south, and then turn around to defend the fleet in the northwest, their distance is still a little far, so that there is a way to survive!" Halsey quickly issued an order, "Immediately look for a route that will quickly shorten the distance between you and the enemy forces to the south, but will not allow the enemy forces on the other side to close the distance quickly; Send a telegram to Admiral Ingram and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, hoping that they will coordinate the army aviation to help us attack this fleet, and at least tell us about the movement of the enemy's forces; 2 Essex-class and 2 South Dakota-class ships form a fast column, and moderately break forward 30-40 kilometers! ”

"Sir, the latest information...... The enemy fleet suddenly turned around and swooped down on the 160-degree course. ”

Horikichi looked at the chart and nodded slightly: "It's a timely response, but his speed has caused him embarrassment, and he has lost the opportunity to eat Tsukahara first and then eat us." ”

"I command!" Hori Yiji paused, and said without hesitation, "Raise the Z flag!" Annihilation of the U.S. Pacific Fleet is today! The soldiers of the whole army, indomitable, bravely kill the enemy! ”

With a "bang", everyone stood up straight.

"All the warships that can keep up with the Second Air War and the Fifth Air War will form an assault column, and they will advance with the commander of this command, and take a speed of 29 knots -- the whole army will charge!"

"Onboard!"

"The chief has raised the Z-flag on the Katsuragi!" Kusaka Ryunosuke told Tsukahara, "Let's prepare for a decisive battle as well." ”

Tsukahara nodded, and asked again: "The enemy army is coming at us now?" ”

"Yes, sir, the whole army is pressing, right?" The staff officers said eagerly.

"Nope! Turn the course, take 80 degrees, slow down to 18 knots, and wait for the battleship formation to come up! ”

"Sir!" Everyone thought they had misheard, and they all screamed.

"Execute the order, the chief will understand!"

Hearing the news that Halsey was being flanked by two enemy forces, there was a burst of chickens and dogs jumping in the joint staff meeting, and everything was chaotic. And after hearing that Halsey rushed to the south, the headquarters was even more messy.

Spruance was in a hurry: "I suggest retreating first, and then look at the situation, even if William can inflict heavy damage on the enemy fleet in the south, the situation is not optimistic......"

Nimitz waved his hand and said in a hoarse voice, "Please ask Admiral Ingram and General Doolittle to coordinate the army air attack." ”

"Pearl Harbor said that only 87 aircraft could carry out the mission, and the enemy fleet was 1,800 kilometers away, and it was impossible to catch up after 5 hours of flight!" Five minutes later, the bad news came, Nimitz slapped the table hard, but there was nothing he could do, for the past two days only some fuel and fighter planes were transported by transport planes, and there were no heavy bombers at all - there was a shortage of fuel and crews, and Pearl Harbor was now short of everything.

"How's it going?" Truman walked in, grimacing, obviously receiving news that the situation was extremely unfavorable - next week's election was over, and he didn't want another big news before the vote.

"Now that all the Japanese forces have appeared, they have completely overwhelmed the TF50 fleet." Under Spruance's explanation, Truman was so anxious that he almost fainted - now the entire Combined Fleet vs. the Pacific Fleet, or, to put it simply, Japan vs. Halsey.

Combat aircraft: Estimated 630vs550 (actual 607: 550)

Fleet aircraft carriers: 8vs2, Japan is ahead by a large margin;

Other aircraft carriers: 7vs12, the US military has a certain advantage (in fact, in terms of combat effectiveness, the comparison between Japan and the United States is nearly 3:12)

Battleships: 6vs2, the Japanese army has 3 Yamato-class super battleships, and the South Dakota level owned by Halsey says that he can't gnaw at all in the face of Yamato, even if he goes head-to-head with Nagato 1vs1, he doesn't dare to say that he will win;

Heavy cruisers: 9vs0, absolute superiority of the Japanese army;

Light cruisers: 17vs8;

Destroyer: 61vs32

"Except for the escort aircraft carrier, our army barely has a little advantage, the others are completely at a disadvantage, and considering the difference in pilot combat effectiveness, it is even more difficult to compete."

Everyone's faces turned pale, even MacArthur, Clark and other army generals knew that the situation was serious, and now Japan had an overwhelming advantage, and what was even more troublesome was that the position of the enemy and friend was still very transparent, and it was still a whole day before it got dark. Besides, listening to Spruance's tone just now, even if it was dark, it was not safe.

"What should I do?" Truman glanced at everyone and said to several admirals, "You must find a way to preserve this fleet, if not all of it, then at least the backbone of the fleet - the United States cannot afford to lose the Pacific Fleet, let alone the Pacific Ocean!" ”

At 9:39, Halsey's reconnaissance planes swept across the sea and were surprised to find that the Tsukahara fleet carrier group had been changed to the east, and the distance between it and the battleship fleet in the rear had been reduced considerably.

"Bastard! Bastard! This old turtle! Old tortoise! After reading the telegram sent by the reconnaissance plane, Halsey was so angry that he tore it up and cursed.

Of course, he had reason to be angry: the distance between Tsukahara and himself just now was 880 kilometers, and the two sides could form a high speed of 48 knots after driving in opposite directions, which meant that the gap could be narrowed by nearly 90 kilometers per hour, and in three hours he could put the Tsukahara fleet into a 600-kilometer strike circle and engage in a wave of killing. But now that Tsukahara is on this side, the distance per hour has been shortened to only about 25 kilometers, and it will be 10 hours before the strike on Tsukahara's fleet can be launched, and it will be dark at this time.

For Tsukahara's change of formation, Horikichi of course applauded, in fact, although the two fleets formed a flanking momentum, but did not form a joint force, there was a time difference in the middle, Tsukahara's course adjustment suddenly closed this time window, and another advantage of driving east is to shorten the distance with Hawaii Island, even if the US imperialist army aviation wants to play a decisive assault, it will greatly increase the difficulty.

"Good! Well done! Horikichi praised Tsukahara from the bottom of his heart, and now the distance between Horiyoshi's fast column and Halsey was shortening by 25 kilometers per hour, and it was expected that the attack would be launched in the evening.

Horikichi does not think that the situation is as optimistic as Matsuda Chiaki and others see, he believes that the situation is still developing dynamically, and the absolute advantage on the whole does not mean the actual victory, in fact, if Halsey really fights hard, he is still sure that he will lose both sides with Tsukahara...... He didn't want to see the scene of Halsey jumping off the wall, it would be too hurtful.

At 10:04, the Halsey fleet adjusted its course to 130 degrees, and he asked the staff officers with some dejection: "How long will it take to enter the 600-kilometer air defense circle when you return to the west coast now?" ”

"There are still 1,832 kilometers left, about ...... Probably...... Another 37 hours. ”

McCain had no hope when he heard this: both enemy fleets could fly at a maximum speed of 30 knots, with a speed difference of 11 knots, and even if they escaped with all their might, they could shorten the distance by 20 kilometers per hour, and after 10-15 hours, they would be sure to reduce the distance to less than 600 kilometers.

Halsey's mood also fell to the bottom, but he barely managed to let himself fall, "Keep the course and speed unchanged, see if the situation has turned around, and then you can figure out a better way to retreat." ”

While he was pondering a way to retreat, Spruance had asked Turner to be invited to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and in the name of President Truman, he gave Turner the title of "Deputy Director of the Office of the Retired Admiral's Adviser on Naval Affairs" (the chief was left to Admiral King), and then Turner, who had retired a few days later, returned to the Joint Chiefs of Staff sand table......

ps: I went out with my family at night, so I was late, sorry, and I asked for a monthly pass...... Guaranteed to start tomorrow!