In fact, it is not only the Japanese side that is planning a battle, but also the American side is planning a battle.

Of course, this refers not to the South Pacific Naval Command, headed by Gormley, but to the command of Nimitz, the commander-in-chief of the Pacific Theater of Operations, who is of a higher rank.

The U.S. Navy, headed by Gormley, was actually a little weak in his heart after these battles. In the first battle, the Japanese were defeated in the "Iron Bottom Bay", and in the second battle, both aircraft carriers were almost sunk. Finally, when the reinforcements increased in strength slightly, the "Wasp" aircraft carrier was sunk by a Japanese submarine.

"We've got news!" Gormley said to the admirals: "The Japanese are bringing up a fleet from the mainland, and this fleet may have two or three aircraft carriers, and so ...... Add to that the possibility that one of Rabaul's aircraft carriers and the not badly wounded 'Shozuru' will also enter the war, and the Japanese will have four or five aircraft carriers! ”

This immediately made the admirals look darkened, because the US military now only has two aircraft carriers available, which is too big.

"Predictably!" Gormley said: "In the next war, we will only be able to commit two aircraft carriers and cooperate with the 'Cactus' air fleet on Kuah Island, so that we can win!" ”

"But...... The 'Cactus' air fleet on Kuah Island has been exposed! "The Japanese won't be fooled again, so I think the wisest thing for us to do now is to preserve our strength and avoid fighting the Japanese Navy as much as possible!" ”

Fletcher may have made sense, and it is often bad to go head-to-head with such a disparity in strength.

"Avoid?" Gormley asked rhetorically, "If we avoid it, what about the troops stationed on Kuah Island?" Ignore them? Or withdraw them to abandon Kuah? ”

As soon as Gormley said this, the admirals were silent.

It is impossible to ignore the garrison on Kuah Island, because there are 15,000 troops on it, and even one of them is American, so it cannot be ignored in any way.

However, withdrawing and abandoning Kuah Island will make the efforts of the US Navy during this period in vain, and worse, the US Navy may have to pay a greater price for it in the future. Because the Japanese army will threaten several nearby naval bases and a large area of sea and air space after occupying Kuah Island.

Looking at the generals who did not speak, Gormley reiterated again: "So, gentlemen. It's impossible to evade, we only have to fight, we can't afford the price of Kuah Island being controlled by the Japanese army, understand?! ”

There was another long silence in the room.

After a while, Chief of Operations Knox said: "I think that in future battles, we should spread out the only two aircraft carriers and fight alone, and the two aircraft carriers should be at least 15 to 20 nautical miles apart, so that the probability of the Japanese spotting two aircraft carriers at the same time and being attacked will be reduced!" ”

"I don't think so." Fletcher replied, "I think they should work together." Because then they can support each other, protect each other, and strengthen their defenses! ”

"But ......," said Knox, "would put both of our carriers in danger at the same time, and it would be a nightmare for our carrier-based aircraft if both were attacked and wounded!" ”

Knox's words make sense, because if both carriers are attacked and cannot receive fighters, then the carrier-based aircraft will have to make a forced landing or crash.

"But if we disperse, our aircraft carriers will be more likely to be sunk by the Japanese!" Fletcher retorted: "As long as the two aircraft carriers work well together, then we are fully capable of holding back the Japanese attack like last time!" ”

There is a truth to Fletcher's words, which he relied on to rely on the joint defense of the "Saratoga" and "Enterprise" in the last battle. But this is not a very good reason either, because the cost was a serious injury to the Enterprise and a minor injury to the Saratoga.

Some of the admirals supported Fletcher, while others supported Knox. There is a stalemate between them.

There are even those who put forward the idea that they should disperse the battle before the Japanese found out, and concentrate the battle when the Japanese fighters were sure to attack.

However, just as the battle within the command was enraged, a telegram was delivered to Gormley.

Gormley looked at the telegram and couldn't help but be stunned. Then he sighed and said, "Gentlemen, there is no need to argue about this, because we only have one aircraft carrier available!" ”

Hearing this, the admirals in the command headquarters couldn't help but be stunned.

The telegram said that the aircraft carrier "Saratoga" was wounded by a torpedo hit by a Japanese submarine. Fortunately, there was only one torpedo that hit the "Saratoga", and the Navy was able to tow it back in time for repair...... the reason why the "Saratoga" aircraft carrier was hit by a torpedo was because it was originally intended to build a battle cruiser at the beginning of its construction, and it was changed into an aircraft carrier after the hull was built, which caused the Saratoga hull to be too long, reaching 266 meters, which was one of the longest aircraft carriers at that time.

As a result, the "Saratoga" was unable to turn to evade in a short time after discovering the torpedo, so the torpedo fired from the Japanese "I-26" ...... "I-26" fired six torpedoes at a distance of 3,500 meters, and because one of the torpedo tubes failed, only five torpedoes were actually fired, and one of the five torpedoes hit.

Although only one attack torpedo hit, due to the great power of the Type 95 torpedo, the starboard middle of the "Saratoga" was seriously damaged, a boiler room was flooded, the turbine and electric drive system were damaged, and the power was lost, and the heavy patrol "Minneapolis" (CA-36) had to be towed out of the dangerous sea area, and then it was unable to participate in the battle for three months.

Fortunately, there were no casualties as a result of the incident.

Unfortunately, the only aircraft carrier currently available to the US military is the USS Hornet.

This situation seems to be very surprising, and the US military can even be said to have won a small victory in the last naval battle, because the loss of two aircraft carriers wounded by the US forces was much smaller than that of the Japanese army who sank one aircraft carrier and damaged two aircraft carriers.

However, the Japanese regained their losses on the frontal battlefield with submarines.

However, this accident is inevitable.

This is not to say how good the submarines of the Japanese were, but that the Japanese torpedoes were excellent, while the American torpedoes were seriously flawed.

On the battlefield, any shortcomings may lower the combat effectiveness of the entire force and pay the price, and now is the time for the US Navy to pay the price.

As a result, the US Navy commanders under the command of Gormley soon fell into a state of passive slack. (To be continued.) )