"If you don't find their aircraft carrier, you can't attack easily!" Jizaburo Ozawa said categorically.

Due to Nagumo's loss of points in China, Jizaburo Ozawa, who was also a Japanese fish expert with Nagumo, squeezed into the upper echelons of the Japanese Navy early by defeating the Anglo-Dutch navy in the Indian Ocean. And this time in the Battle of the South Pacific, he replaced Nagumo Tadaichi as the vanguard of the attack.

This time, he did not believe at all that the Americans had dispatched only one battleship, and not aircraft carriers.

Through the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese Navy had a deeper understanding of aircraft carriers and attached special importance to them.

This time, in addition to the two Iowa-class battleships, the Americans sent six aircraft carriers, the USS Saratoga, the USS Wasp, the USS Hornet, the USS Yorktown, the Essex-class Enterprise, and the USS Lexington. °

Compared with the battleships, these 6 aircraft carriers are what the Japanese pay special attention to.

The aircraft carrier's fighters can fight both at sea and on land, especially when their torpedo attacks are enough to threaten the super battleships, and the Japanese cannot but pay attention to the movements of the aircraft carriers.

But the Americans' huge merchant fleet was heading towards Sydney, and none of their six aircraft carriers could be seen, so Ozawa, who had always been cautious and calm, could not help but guess the worst-case outcome.

"The spirit of the Navy is attack, and the essence of aircraft carriers is ultra-long-range attack! We don't need to guess where the enemy's battleships are, we just need to send our target to the bottom of the sea one step ahead, and that's enough! Yamaguchi Tawen pleaded again.

If Nagumo Tadaichi is known for his prudence, Jizaburo Ozawa is known for his calmness and composure, while Yamaguchi Tafumi, one of Japan's rare aircraft carrier experts, has a natural sense of smell and a courageous style

Although he had already sensed that the Americans must have conspiracy this time, in his calculations, through the grasp of timing, they could at least take a big bite of the fat in their mouths first.

"Only by fighting, the aircraft carriers of the Yankees will come out!" Yamaguchi heard and said.

His Flying Dragon had long been the record of the Vanguard, but after the Japanese obtained two Shohe-class aircraft carriers from the Umbrella Company, they replaced the Flying Dragon and the Soryu respectively and changed them to the Flying Crane and the Soryu. Yamaguchi had a car for the Flying Crane.

Seeing a supercarrier that was easy to become the prey of an aircraft carrier and a large number of merchant ships in front of him and unable to move, Yamaguchi Tashi was a little restless.

Jizaburo Ozawa was a little tempted, to be honest, the Japanese did not experience the battles of Midway and the Coral Sea, and the Combined Fleet was at its peak at this time.

This time, as a striker, he has two aircraft carriers, the Flying Crane and the Aozuru, as well as a Yamato-class battleship named Hyuga and a Nagato-class battleship.

And in their rear, there was also a formation of the Yamato that was coming from Port Moresby. Although the distance is a little farther, the accompanying aircraft carriers Akagi and Zuizuru can quickly provide support.

With such combat capability, even if the Americans attacked as a whole, they could delay and wait for the main warships to arrive for a decisive battle.

"Expand your search and look carefully for what you can target!" When the words came to his lips, Ozawa still added another cautious instruction.

But shortly after the search to expand the scope began, new information came again:

"The fleet of the Americans is drifting south!"

"To the south?" Jizaburo Ozawa walked quickly to the chart, pointed to Fiji Island, followed Matthew Island and Hunter Island, and pointed to Norfolk Island.

"The islands of Matthew and Hunt, which are difficult to gain a foothold for a long time, are at this time unoccupied territory that still belongs to the French. This Norfolk Island belongs to the Australians, and there is already an Australian garrison on it, as well as a few fortress guns. In order to prevent our surprise attack, their fleet had already taken the inner line, and this time it was southerly, should it pass through New Zealand? Ozawa mused, "Or maybe their aircraft carriers are hiding near the Minawa Islands or the Kermadec Islands?" ”

"Can't wait any longer. Even if they get their fleet to New Zealand, we won't be able to stop a steady stream of reinforcement from reaching the Australian mainland! "Yamaguchi Tawen asked for war again.

He was right, the power of the Japanese fleet had not yet expanded into the Tasman Sea, and as long as the American merchant ships docked in New Zealand and crossed the Norsman Sea from New Zealand to support the Australian mainland, the Japanese could only stare dryly.

Ozawa still groaned.

It was not until the U.S. fleet had crossed the center point of the quadrilateral of Hunt Island, Norfolk Island, Minawa Island, and Kermadec Island, and was getting closer and closer to Norfolk Island, where the Allies were heavily stationed, that Ozawa gave the order to attack.

"The Japanese have attacked!" An airwave quickly reached the hands of Rear Admiral Fletcher, a veteran aboard the battleship Iowa.

"They're finally here! It seems that they will not let us make this journey safely! Frank Jack Fletcher instructed his men to continue the message, then clapped his hands and said loudly, "Children, those yellow-skinned monkeys are finally coming. Let's get ready to kick those little guys in the ass first! ”

The subordinates rushed to their respective schedules, and the radio waves continued to be transmitted into the distance. At the same time, all battleships, even merchant ships, showed the hideous muzzles of anti-aircraft guns.

The Americans had the famous Fletcher-class destroyers in World War II, but not in honor of him as a rear admiral, but in memory of his uncle, Admiral Frank Fred Fletcher.

But Rear Admiral Fletcher Jr. was also senior enough to serve as the front-line commander of the operation, with the battleship Iowa as the flagship, leading this large merchant fleet to complete Nimitz's decoy plan.

To be honest, although the American fleet is very strong, the Japanese fleet is also not weak, and it also has to be responsible for escorting merchant ships, and Nimitz does not want to go head-to-head with the Japanese.

Therefore, none of the aircraft carriers followed, so that the Japanese would not dare to attack when they were suspicious, so that the merchant ships were getting closer and closer to New Zealand.

However, it doesn't matter if the Japanese come, the Americans' radars and submarines can detect the Japanese in advance, and this merchant ship formation has already prepared a sharp enough hook to prepare for a counterattack.

On the other hand, from the vicinity of the Kermadec and Minawa Islands, two aircraft carrier formations are rushing here.