Gormley soon summoned a meeting of the principal admirals of the various parts of the navy, and his first words were: "Gentlemen, we are ready to start fighting!" ”

This immediately caused quite a stir in the conference room.

"General!" Chief of Naval Operations Knox said: "But we don't have enough warships, and the fleet that has come to reinforce is still on the way!" ”

Because many warships were lost in the Battle of "Iron Bottom Bay," and a considerable number of warships could not be repaired and restored in time, the US Navy had to send warships from the continental United States and Pearl Harbor to reinforce the Nanpingyang Theater, and these warships had not yet arrived.

Knox feared that if they were to be thrown into battle like this, the U.S. Navy's aircraft carriers would most likely be attacked because of the lack of warships for cover duties.

"We don't have time!" Gormley shook his head: "On the one hand, our troops on Kuah Island are undersupplied, and on the other hand, the Japanese continue to increase their troops on Kuah Island, and so on...... Before our reinforcements arrive, Kuah will be lost. And the loss of Kuah Island means that we will fall further into passivity and even be driven out of the Solomon Islands! ”

"Maybe we can ramp up our airdrop resupply!"

"Or we can use air power to cover the transport ships to reinforce Kuah Island during the day!"

……

Admirals put forward one opinion after another, but none of them wanted to face this war.

Gormley knew why, the defeat at the Battle of Iron Bottom and the lack of warships had made them lose confidence in facing the Japanese navy, so most of them wanted to hold out until reinforcements arrived, but Gormley believed that the Japanese would not give them so much time.

"Gentlemen!" Gorm used his gaze to suppress the generals' discussions: "We have received information that the Japanese Second Division has reached Rabaul, and even their vanguard has landed on Kuah Island...... That's a division. There were more than 20,000 people. If you add the remnants of the Japanese on Kuah Island, there are more than 30,000 people. Perhaps, the 1st Marine Regiment and the Chinese soldiers stationed on Kuah Island had enough courage to face them, but they had no ammunition and no food, and we still hope that they can hold on so that the Navy can prepare! No...... We can't do that! ”

"General!" TF61 Fleet Commander Fletcher said: "But this is what happened. It is quite possible to put our precious aircraft carrier at risk. And once the navy is defeated, then not only will the troops on Kuah Island lose their last hope, but our battles in the entire Pacific theater may be in trouble! ”

Objectively speaking, Fletcher's worries are also justified, because now the navy is the only lifeline for the troops stationed on Kuah Island, and if the US Navy suffers another fiasco like the "Iron Bottom Bay", the US Navy will be in a state of collapse, and the land forces on Kuah Island will have only two endings: surrender or annihilation.

Therefore, we must be cautious and cautious in this battle.

Fletcher's idea was to put the troops on Kuah Island at risk of annihilation. Nor can it be easy to go to war without being prepared.

"Well...... Gormley asked Fletcher rhetorically, "what are you worried about?" Or why do you always think the U.S. Navy will be at a disadvantage? ”

"It's easy!" Fletcher replied: "I think there are at least three major disadvantages in the face of the Japanese Navy. ”

"I want to hear about it!" Gormley made a gesture of please.

He has always been dissatisfied with Fletcher, and it was because of this Fletcher that during the Battle of "Iron Bottom Bay" he took the pretext of excessive losses of aircraft carriers and insufficient fuel to withdraw three aircraft carriers, which caused uneasiness and commotion among the commanders of other fleets, so that the Japanese Navy took advantage of the loopholes.

Of course, this is not to say that Fletcher was to blame for the fiasco of the "Iron Bottom Bay", because even if the aircraft carrier had not withdrawn its carrier-based aircraft, it would not have been able to function at night, and the Japanese sneak attack would have succeeded. But Fletcher's actions attracted the attention of most of the admirals, and several capital ships were even transferred out of the war zone because they were in a meeting.

So anyway. Fletcher was to blame for the fiasco in the Battle of Iron Bottom Bay.

"First of all, there is not enough warships!" Fletcher knew what Gormley's expression and movements meant, so he also replied with a straight face: "The consequence of the shortage of warships is that once the aircraft carrier is bombed by Japanese aircraft, our army will not be able to provide strong air defense cover for the aircraft carrier, and at the same time, it will not be able to provide the aircraft carrier with sea surface and submarine cover, which makes the aircraft carrier vulnerable to attack." ”

"Yes!" Gormley did not object.

"The second is the lack of aircraft carriers!" Fletcher continued: "We only have three aircraft carriers. And the Japanese have four, and we are at a disadvantage in numbers! ”

"You're right!" Gormley nodded.

"What's more serious......" Fletcher said here and couldn't help but pause, he couldn't understand Gormley's intentions, but he continued to say: "Everyone knows that the Japanese fighters and bombers had a combat radius of almost a thousand kilometers. And the combat radius of our fighters and bombers is only more than five hundred kilometers. This is our biggest disadvantage, because it means that the Japanese aircraft carriers can attack our aircraft carriers, while their carriers stay outside our combat radius and have an active range of almost five hundred kilometers......"

It should be said that this has always been a problem for the US Navy, and it is precisely because of this that Fletcher insisted on not staying in the waters of Kuah Island for more than five days before the Battle of "Iron Bottom Bay", because if the Japanese discovered the location of the US aircraft carrier and launched a surprise attack first, the US aircraft carrier would be almost powerless to fight back.

"I agree!" Gormley still had no objections.

"So!" Fletcher spread his hands at Gormley: "I also think we should wait for reinforcements, rather than act rashly!" ”

"But ......," said Gormley, lighting a cigar, taking a few puffs, "and if I say...... Can these problems be solved? ”

"This ...... No way! Fletcher and many of the admirals laughed.

"The solution is Kuah Island!" "We're going to hide about seventy fighters and bombers on Kuah Island and turn it into an aircraft carrier, an aircraft carrier that the Japanese don't know about," Fletcher said. Therefore, the Japanese will, without knowing it, sail the aircraft carrier into the attack radius of the 'aircraft carrier' on Kuah Island, or we will set up a bureau! ”

Hearing this, the smiles of all the admirals froze on their faces.

"Also...... I have to warn you! Gormley added: "This method was conceived by Chinese, a whimsical method in the eyes of our generals, who did not have aircraft and had no experience in commanding naval and air operations Chinese and did not have any experience!" ”

(To be continued.) )