Chapter 12 Chapter Twelve

On the first day of 1942, Daisy received a letter from her former fiancé, Charlie Farquison. She opened the letter on the breakfast table of her Mayfair Street apartment.Apart from her, the only people in the house at this time were the butler who poured her coffee, and the fifteen-year-old maid who brought her hot bread from the kitchen. The letter was not sent from Buffalo, but from Duxford Air Force Base in eastern England.Daisy had heard of Duxford, which was close to Cambridge where she met her husband Boy Fitzherbert and lover Lloyd Williams. She was delighted to have Charlie's letter.He abandoned her, and she also hated him for a while.But that was a long time ago.She felt that she was a completely different person from then. In 1935, she was the wealthy lady of the upper class Beskov family in the United States, and now she is the Viscountess of Aberowen, a British nobleman.But she was glad Charlie still remembered her.Women always want to be remembered, not forgotten.

The letter was written by Charlie with a black pen.The letter paper was large, with jagged edges and poorly formed lettering.Daisy picked up her conviction: Very well, thought Daisy, he seemed to have grown quite a bit. Ah, thought Daisy, the late mother.Turns out the old bitch was dead.This may explain Charlie's transformation. Three Condors fought in the war against Nazi Germany, the RAF one was made up of American volunteers.Daisy was taken aback: she hadn't expected Charlie to volunteer for the fight.The Charlie she'd known before hadn't been interested in anything other than dogs and racehorses.He has really grown up.

The mention of her husband being tactful showed that Charlie had no intention of rekindling his old relationship with her, Daisy thought. With Boye away next weekend, Daisy will have Charlie alone.Like many women in wartime London, Daisy enjoyed the company of men.After going to Spain, there was no news from Lloyd.He said he was going to the British embassy in Spain as a military attache. Daisy hoped that he had indeed taken such a life-threatening position, but in her heart she didn't believe it at all.She asked Lloyd why the government sent a young and strong military officer to a neutral country to do clerical work. Lloyd explained to her that it was to prevent Spain from joining the fascist camp in the war. This task was very important.When he said this, he smiled annoyedly, knowing that Daisy would not believe it easily.She worried that Lloyd had in fact crossed the border to fight alongside the French resistance.These days, Daisy often has nightmares about Lloyd being arrested and abused.

Daisy hasn't seen Lloyd in over a year.Daisy felt the pain of amputation, and she thought of him every hour of every day.But she's glad to have the chance to go out with men, even the shy, fat, lifeless Charlie Farquison. Charlie booked a table in the small dining room of the Savoy Hotel. While the waiter was helping her take off her mink coat in the lobby of the hotel, a tall man in a well-tailored evening gown, who looked familiar, approached her.The man held out his hand and said shyly to her, "Hi, Daisy, nice to meet you after all these years." It was only when she heard the voice that she realized it was Charlie. "My God," she exclaimed, "you've changed!"

"I lost some weight," he said. "Not just a little." Daisy guessed that Charlie had lost forty or fifty pounds.Losing weight has made Charlie even more handsome than before.He no longer looks bloated, but has a rough temperament. "You're the same as ever." Charlie looked her up and down. Daisy groomed herself before going out.She hadn't bought new clothes in years because of wartime austerity, but tonight she wore the off-the-shoulder Lanvin evening gown she had bought on her last trip to Paris before the war. "I'll be twenty-six in two months," said Daisy, "and I can't believe I'm the same as I was nineteen."

He looked down at Daisy's topless evening dress, his face flushed, "Trust me, I'm not flattering you." They went into the restaurant and sat down. "I was afraid you wouldn't come," he said. "My watch has stopped, sorry for being late." "It's only twenty minutes late, and I'm going to wait an hour!" The waiter asked if they would like a drink first.Daisy said: "Here you can drink a good martini that is difficult to taste in the UK." "Two glasses, please," said Charlie. "Without ice, but with olives."

"me too." Daisy looked at Charlie, marveling at the change in him.He had been clumsy before, but now he was impressively shy.Daisy looked at him, but she couldn't connect him with the pilot who flew the fighter jet and shot down the German fighter plane.After all, the air raid on London had ended half a year ago, and there were very few air battles in the skies of southern England. "What kind of missions do you usually fly?" Daisy asked. "Flying mostly in circles in northern France during the day." "What is a circle mission?" "Usually a bomber and a fighter team up to carry out missions. The fighter escorts the bomber. The main goal is to introduce the enemy's fighters into the combat area where their absolute strength is relatively weak."

"I hated the bombers," said Daisy. "I was in London during the bombings. It was such a terrible time to be scared!" Charlie said, "I thought you wanted the Germans to taste what you sowed!" "No way!" Daisy thought about the matter a lot. "I feel sorry for the women and children in London who died in the bombing—but also for the women and children who suffered the same thing in Germany." "I never thought about it that way." They ordered mains.Wartime regulations limited each table to three courses, and a meal could not cost more than five shillings, and the only menu on the menu was fake duck stuffed with pork sausages and jambalaya, which had no meat at all.

Charlie said: "It's great to hear you speak with an American accent. I like British girls and have even dated one, but I still prefer American accents." "Me too," Daisy said, "this is my home now, and I won't be returning to America, but I can understand how you feel." "It's a pity that I couldn't meet Viscount Aberowan." "Like you, he's in the Air Force. Now he's a flight instructor. He checks in every now and then—but not this weekend." Daisy slept with him again when Boyie came home occasionally to visit relatives.After catching him sleeping with the despicable woman in Aldgate, Daisy once swore she would never sleep with him again.But Boi put the pressure on her.He said the warrior needed to be comforted when he returned home, and vowed never to go to those whores again.Daisy didn't believe his promise, but gave in against her will.For better or for worse, she told herself, she was married to such a man after all.

But she couldn't get pleasure from having sex with Boyie anymore.She could sleep with Boy, but couldn't love him with all her heart.Daisy had to use lube to fuck him.She used to try to find the feeling of having sex with her when Boyi had the momentum to stomp the world under his feet and was full of fun, but now she realized that Boyi was just a boring guy with no noble title, selfish and no insight .When Boyie was on top of her, all Daisy could think about was not to catch some nasty contagion from him. Charlie said cautiously: "You probably don't want to talk about the Roch family..."

"yes." "But... Joanne is dead, do you know that?" "No way," Daisy was shocked, "how did she die?" "Killed by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor. She was engaged to Woody Dewar, and the two went together to visit Woody's brother, who was stationed at Pearl Harbor. The car they were in was pursued by a Japanese Zero fighter jet, Joanne was unfortunately hit by a bullet fired by the Japanese army." "It's a pity, poor Joanne and Woody!" Their food and wine came.The two ate in silence for a while.Daisy didn't think vegetarian duck tasted like duck at all. Charlie said, "Joanne was one of the 2,400 Americans killed at Pearl Harbor. We lost eight warships and ten other ships at Pearl Harbor. Hateful Japanese!" "People here are secretly happy because they think America is finally in the war. God knows why Hitler was so stupid to declare war on America. The British think they have the support of the United States and the Soviet Union and they have a last chance to win. " "Americans are very angry that Pearl Harbor was raided." "People here don't know what's going on between the U.S. and Japan." "Until the moment before the war, the Japanese were still bargaining with us - they were actually planning to attack Pearl Harbor. This is a real fraud." Daisy frowned. "I think it's normal. If there is a last-minute agreement, they may cancel the attack plan." "But they can't sneak attack either!" "What's the difference? We all thought Japan would attack the Philippines first, and even if war was declared, we didn't expect them to attack Pearl Harbor first." Charlie spread his hands helplessly: "They shouldn't have attacked us in the first place!" "We stole their money." "It's just temporarily freezing their overseas assets." “They think it’s the same thing. We cut off Japan’s crude oil supply, put Japan on trade barriers, put them on a losing streak. What else do you expect them to do?” "They should give in and agree to withdraw their troops from China." "They should. But if the United States is being ordered to do this or that by other countries, do you expect us to submit?" "Maybe not," Charlie grinned, "I just said you haven't changed, and now I want to take that back." "why?" "You've never talked like that before. You didn't talk about politics at all before." "If you are not interested in politics, if something bad happens to you in the outside world, you will feel bad luck." "I think we've all learned that from our respective experiences." They asked for dessert.Daisy said, "Charlie, what the hell is going on in the world? All of Europe is in the hands of the Fascists. Germany has captured most of the Soviet Union. The United States is as powerless as an eagle with a broken wing. Sometimes I Even thankful for not having a baby." "Don't underestimate the United States. We were wounded, but never defeated. Japan is indeed proud now, but one day they will regret what they did at Pearl Harbor." "Hope you're right." "Germany will not be as arbitrary as before. They failed to capture Moscow and are retreating. Do you realize that the Battle of Moscow was Hitler's first real defeat?" "Is it a retreat, or a temporary retreat?" "Whether it was a rout or a strategic retreat, it was a heavy blow that Hitler had not encountered before. The Bolsheviks taught Nazi Germany a bloody lesson." Charlie found English port to be delicious.In London, men usually serve this drink after the women leave the table.Daisy resented the habit, and tried unsuccessfully to break it at the seder.After the martini and red wine, the two each drank a glass of port wine.The wine made Daisy drunk, but rarely happy. They reminisced about their youth in Buffalo, laughing at the stupid things they did with other people when they were young. "You said you were going to dance with the King of England in London," said Charlie, "and you did." "I hope all of them are jealous of this!" "It's more than jealous, Dot Renshaw was so surprised that his face twitched." Daisy smiled happily. "It's nice to be in touch with you again," Charlie said, "I like you very much." "I'm very happy too." They took their coats and left the restaurant.The doorman called a taxi. "I'll take you home," Charlie said. Charlie hugged Daisy as the car drove down the Strand.She was going to break free, but thought again: It's okay.So she leaned on Charlie. "What a fool I am," he said, "I wish I had married you earlier!" "You might make a better husband than Boy Fitzherbert," she said.But without Boyie, she might never have met Lloyd. She realized she hadn't said anything about Lloyd to Charlie. Charlie kissed Daisy as the taxi turned into Mayfair Street. It felt so good to be hugged and kissed by a man, but Daisy knew it was the alcohol she had just drunk that made her feel this way.In fact, the only man she wants to kiss is Lloyd.But she didn't push Charlie away until the taxi stopped. "How about another drink before bed?" Charlie asked. For a moment Daisy was shaken.She hadn't touched a man's solid body for a long time.But she didn't really want to have sex with Charlie. "No," she said, "Charlie, I'm sorry, but I love someone else." "Don't sleep with me," he said softly, "if we could, I mean we could kiss or something..." Daisy opened the door and jumped out of the car.She felt bad about herself.Charlie was fighting for her life every day, but she couldn't even simply console him. "Good night, Charlie, and good luck," she said.Before changing her mind, she slammed the car door and walked into her home. She went straight upstairs.A few minutes later, lying alone in bed, she felt miserable.She betrayed two men at once: she betrayed Lloyd by kissing Charlie, and she betrayed Charlie by making Charlie unhappy. All day Sunday, Daisy lay in bed with a hangover. On Monday night, she got a call. "I'm Hank Barclayt," said a young American, "and I'm Charlie Farquison's friend at Duxford. He told me about you, and I found it in the telephone book got your phone number." She was startled suddenly: "Why did you call me?" "I have bad news for you," Hank said, "Charlie's plane was shot down by the Germans over Abbeville, and he died." "No!" "This was his first mission in a Spitfire." "He told me that," said Daisy dreamily. "I guess you might want to know the news." "Yes, thank you," she said softly. "In his heart, you are an amazing person." "Really?" "You should have heard how he praised you." "It's a pity," she said, "it's a pity." She was so choked up that she couldn't speak anymore and had to hang up. Chuck Dewar looked over the shoulder of intelligence analyst Lieutenant Bob Strong at the files on his desk.Most intelligence analysts' desks are cluttered, but Strong's is tidy.There was only a piece of document paper on which he wrote a few words.The paper reads: YO-LO-KU-TA-WA-NA "I really don't understand," said Strong despondently, "that if the decipher is correct, the Japanese would strike at 'Yoro Kutawana.' But that doesn't mean anything. There is no such word in Japanese." word." Chuck looked at the six Japanese characters on the paper.Although he knew only a little Japanese, he was sure that those few syllables meant something to him.Unable to determine what the bytes meant, Chuck went about his business. The atmosphere inside the old administration building is heavy. In the weeks after the air raid, Chuck and Eddie regularly saw dead bodies floating on the surface of the oil slick outside Pearl Harbor.At the same time, the intelligence they dealt with continued to include news of more destructive attacks by the Japanese army.Just three days after Pearl Harbor, Japanese fighter jets attacked an American base on the Philippine island of Luzon, destroying the entire torpedo stockpile of the U.S. Pacific Fleet.On the same day in the South China Sea, the Japanese sank the British battleships HMS Shallow Water and HMS Prince of Wales, leaving Britain isolated and helpless in the Far East. The pace of the Japanese army seemed unstoppable, and bad news came one after another.In the first few months of the new year, Japanese forces repulsed American forces in the Philippines and crushed British forces in Hong Kong, Singapore and Rangoon, the Burmese capital. Sailors like Chuck and Eddie didn't know the names of these places.To the American public, Guam, Wake Island, and Bataan in the Philippines seem as far away as distant planets in science fiction.But all knew what it meant to retreat, to surrender, to surrender. Chuck wondered, can Japan really beat the United States?He couldn't accept this fact. In May, Japan finally got what it wanted: an empire of rubber, tin and, crucially, crude oil.Leaked information showed that the Japanese were ruling the empire with a cruelty that would have terrified Stalin. But Japan also has a confidant, which is the US Navy.Thinking of this, Chuck is deeply proud of being a member of the US Navy.The Japanese attempted to control the Pacific by destroying Pearl Harbor, but they failed.American aircraft carriers and heavy cruisers still roam the Pacific Ocean.Overheard intelligence revealed that the Japanese commander was very angry that the United States refused to fall to the ground and die.After the failure of the Pearl Harbor battlefield, the U.S. military was inferior to the Japanese in terms of personnel and weapons, but instead of fleeing and hiding, they adopted hit-and-run tactics against Japanese warships.Although little damage was done to the Japanese, this tactic effectively boosted American morale and left the Japanese with a strong sense that they were far from victorious. On April 25, fighter jets from US aircraft carriers attacked Tokyo, greatly weakening the martial spirit of Japanese militarism.Hawaii celebrated wildly.Chuck and Eddie were both very drunk that night. But the time for a showdown is approaching.Everyone Chuck had talked to in the Old Administration Building said that the Japanese would launch a massive offensive in early summer, luring American warships into an ultimate battle to the death.Japan hopes that the navy can show superior strength in battle and wipe out the US Pacific Fleet.Only by making better preparations and collecting more sophisticated intelligence can the U.S. military move quickly and win with one blow. In the past few months, the "Haibo" signal intelligence center has been deciphering the Japanese Navy's new code named JN-25b day and night.In May, they finally made a breakthrough. The U.S. Navy has established a series of wireless interception stations around the Pacific Ocean from Seattle to Australia.At these intercept stations, codebreakers known as "roof gangs" wore earphones and sat next to radio monitors listening to Japanese radio signals.They listened to the radio frequencies of the Japanese army and recorded what they heard. The radio signals of the Japanese army were written in Morse code.The dots and dashes in the code can be translated into arrays of five numbers, each array corresponding to a different letter, word, and phrase in the codebook.The seemingly disorganized numbers were carried by security cables to a telex machine in the basement of the old administration building.Then comes the hardest part to decipher. They always start small.The signal always ends with "Owari", which means "end".The codec would look for the same array appearing in the same signal segment, and write the words "Is it over?" on the array found. The Japanese often make unintentional mistakes that often serve them well. It will take some time for JN-25b's new codebook to be sent to an outpost far from headquarters.Therefore, for the first few weeks, the Japanese army had to transmit messages in both codes at the same time.These weeks proved to be fatal for the Japanese forces.Because the U.S. military has basically deciphered the original JN-25 and can decipher most of the information in the message.At this time, by comparing the deciphered information with the new password, it is not difficult to determine what the five-digit array of the new password means.Breakthroughs were made in deciphering the new code. After Pearl Harbor, several musicians from the band on the sunk USS California joined the original eight-member decoding team.For some unknown reason, musicians are extremely skilled at decoding. All translated messages are converted into files and stored.The comparison of the translated texts is very important.An analyst might ask for all signals for a given day, all signals for a particular ship, or all signals that mention Hawaii.In order to make it easier for analysts to find the radio signals they need as soon as possible, Chuck and another clerk created an easy-to-find alternate index system. The decoding team expected the Japanese to attack Port Moresby, the Allied base in Papua, in the first week of May.Their deciphering was so accurate that the U.S. Navy intercepted Japanese attack ships in the Coral Sea.Both sides claimed victory, but the Japanese did not take Port Moresby.Admiral Nimitz, commander of the U.S. Pacific Theater, began to trust his translators. The Japanese don't usually call places in the Pacific Ocean by common names.They gave each important military stronghold a two-letter designation—actually, two hiragana characters in the Japanese alphabet, but translators usually corresponded them with letters A through Z in the English alphabet. .Translators in the basement struggle to figure out the meaning of each two-digit hiragana name.Slowly they made some progress: MO for Port Moresby, AH for Oahu, but there were still many two-digit hiragana names that didn't work out. In May, radio signal interceptors picked up a lot of intelligence that the Japanese were about to launch an attack on a place known as AF. AF most likely represents Midway, the westernmost atoll of the 1,500-kilometer chain of islands starting from Hawaii, which is exactly halfway between Los Angeles and Tokyo. Guessing is naturally not enough.Considering the numerical superiority of the Japanese navy, Admiral Nimitz must know this matter. Through working day after day, Chuck and his colleagues roughly figured out the general law of the Japanese army's battle order.Newly produced fighter jets are generally placed on aircraft carriers; Japan will station "occupation forces" in every place it occupies: it hopes to keep all the territories they have conquered through this move. From the looks of it, the scale of this battle must not be small.But where would the Japanese attack? The codebreakers in the basement were particularly proud that they had successfully deciphered a message from the Japanese warship urging Tokyo: "Fasten the delivery of the fuel hoses."At the same time, it was confirmed that the Japanese army was about to launch a long-distance transoceanic attack. However, the U.S. High Command felt that the Japanese army might attack Hawaii, and the military feared that the Japanese army would use this to advance to the west coast of the United States.The decoding team at Pearl Harbor had vague suspicions that the Japanese would attack the airstrip on Johnston Island, a thousand miles south of Midway. Intelligence must be 100% confirmed. Chuck judged how the Japanese army would act, but hesitated to say.Decryptors are very smart, but he is not the same as smart.He didn't do very well in school, and in third grade one of his classmates called him "Chuck Stupid."He cried, and the nickname came true.In Chuck's heart, he is still the "Chuck idiot". At lunch, Chuck and Eddie got sandwiches and coffee from the dining room and sat on the pier watching the harbor and beyond.Pearl Harbor had returned to its former self.Most of the crude oil dumped into the sea has drifted away, and the wreckage of some ships has been salvaged. While we were eating, a wounded aircraft carrier appeared on Hospital Promontory, puffing black smoke and puffing slowly into port, leaving a long oil slick behind.Chuck recognized that it was the USS Yorktown aircraft carrier.The hull was covered with a thick layer of soot, and the cockpit was blown out with a large hole, probably by the Japanese during the Battle of the Coral Sea. When the "Yorktown" entered the dock, the base sounded the alarm to celebrate its return, and the tugboat pulled it into the No. 1 dry dock. "It is said that it will take three months to repair." Eddie said.He was in the same building as Chuck, but he was upstairs in the intelligence office and could hear more rumors. "But now it's going to be back in the water in three days." "So fast, can the repairers fix it?" "They've started work. The chief engineer of the shipyard flew in with his team to make repairs, and they're already on board and working. Look over to the dry dock." The once-empty dry dock is full of people and equipment: the docks are already lined with all sorts of welding tools ready to go. "They'll just have to weld up what's blown up," Eddie said. "They'll fix the deck and get it out to sea, and all the other minor fixes will have to wait." The name of the aircraft carrier made Chuck uneasy, and he couldn't shake the gripping feeling.What does Yorktown mean?The American and French siege of British troops at Yorktown was the last decisive battle before the end of the Revolutionary War.Is there any deep meaning in using this name? Colonel VanderMeer came over. "You two sissies, get back to your jobs," he said. Eddie whispered to Chuck, "I'm going to beat him up in the future." "Eddie, wait until the war is over," Chuck said. Back in the basement, Chuck sees Bob Strong sitting at his desk, and suddenly realizes that he has solved Strong's problem. Looking at the desk over Strong's shoulder, Chuck saw six Japanese syllables on the same sheet of paper: YO-LO-KU-TA-WA-NA "Wonderful, you finally deciphered it!" Chuck deliberately said as if Strong had found a way to decipher it himself. Strong was puzzled: "Have I deciphered it?" "It's an English word, so the Japanese can only spell it phonetically." "Is 'Yolo Kutawana' an English word?" "Yes, sir, that's what the Japanese call Yorktown." "What did you say?" Strong's expression was puzzled. "Chuck Stupid" thought for a moment that he was completely wrong, and was terrified. Strong said: "My God, you're right! 'Yoro Kutawana' is the Japanese pronunciation of York City!" He laughed happily, "Thank you!" Then he praised again, "A job well done." Chuck hesitated. He had another idea.Should he tell Strong?Deciphering is not his job, but America may be losing the war soon, and perhaps he should seize the opportunity. "Can I make another suggestion?" he asked. "Come on." "I have some thoughts about the designation AF. We need to make sure that AF stands for Midway, shall we?" "yes." "Can we spread some information about Midway Island and let the Japanese use encrypted messages to send them out as intercepted intelligence? Through the intercepted messages, we will be able to know how the Japanese coded Midway Island." Strong thought for a moment. "Maybe," he said, "maybe we need to make the message clearer to make sure the Japanese understand it." "This can be done, and it can be the kind of news that does not need to be kept secret-for example, 'Midway Island has an outbreak of willow disease, please send some medicine', or similar telegrams." "Why do the Japanese want to send this kind of news again?" "Therefore, the transmission must be some signal of strategic significance, but it cannot be our top secret-we can leak some information such as the weather." "But the current weather forecast is also classified." The codec at the next table interjected: "Could it be the news of the shortage of fresh water? If you want to occupy Midway Island, the shortage of fresh water is a very important thing." "Maybe it works," Strong excited. "The garrison at Midway can send an unencrypted message to Hawaii, saying that the equipment in the desalination plant is broken." "Hawaii can respond and say we're going to send a water barge over there," Chuck said. "If the Japanese are going to attack Midway, they will certainly forward this information. They also need to make a plan to send fresh water to Midway." "They would send in coded cables so as not to reveal their interest in Midway." Strong stood up. "Come with me," he said to Chuck, "report this up and see what the higher-ups think." Their advice was heeded, and messages were sent between Midway and Hawaii that fresh water was in short supply. The next day, the Japanese military sent a secret telegram that the AF lacked fresh water supplies. The goal is Midway! Admiral Nimitz began setting traps at Midway. That night, as more than a thousand workers gathered on the deck of the wounded aircraft carrier USS Yorktown to perform repairs under arc lights, Chuck and Eddie walked into a " Brim Band” bar.The bar was, as usual, packed with sailors and native Hawaiians.Most of the customers are men, with only a few couples of gay female nurses.Chuck and Eddie love it here because the men here are gay like they are.Gay female nurses like to come here because the drunk men don't harass them. But they have to act stealthily.According to the army's anti-gay law, if found to be gay, they will be expelled from the army and thrown into prison.Fortunately, there is a large group of like-minded people gathered in this place.The bandleader wears heavy makeup.Even though the singer on stage was sure some people didn't know he was a man, he put on a women's outfit.The bar owner is also gay.Men can dance with their arms around each other.Nobody thinks you're a sissy for ordering a glass of absinthe. After Joanne's death, Chuck found himself falling in love with Eddie even more.He knew Eddie might die in battle, but never imagined it would happen.Every day after Pearl Harbor, Chuck sees the same scene—beautiful Joanne lying on the ground covered in blood, his brother crying beside Joanne.Chuck could also be kneeling beside Eddie, feeling the same unbearable pain. Chuck and Eddie survived that day, December 7th, but now they're in the fight, and in war, life is cheap.Every day that Chuck and Eddie spend together is precious because every day can be the last. Chuck was leaning against the bar with a glass of beer, and Eddie was sitting next to him on the bar stool.They're listening to Navy pilot Trevor Paxman recall an embarrassing time when he tried to have sex with a girl. "I thought she was like the girl in the painting, her lower body is very neat - I didn't expect her to have more and more messy hair than mine!" Chuck and Eddie burst out laughing, "It's just a chimpanzee!" Through the corner of the eye Out of the corner of his eye, Chuck saw the burly Colonel VanderMeer walk into the bar. Officers rarely went to bars where soldiers met.There's no such thing as a prohibition in military discipline, but it's as thoughtless as wearing muddy boots in and out of the Ritz-Carlton dining room.Eddie turned around, hoping VanderMeer hadn't seen him. Not so lucky this time.Colonel VanderMeer went straight up to him and said, "The girls are all together, aren't they?" Trevor turned and quickly blended into the crowd."Where did he go?" asked VanderMeer, who was too drunk to speak clearly. Chuck noticed that Eddie looked sullen.He said to Vandermeer without being humble, "Colonel, good evening, would you like me to buy you a glass of beer?" "Have a whiskey." Chuck bought VanderMeer a whiskey.He took a sip and said, "I heard you were making out behind the bar—is that true?" He waited for Eddie's reaction. "I don't know," Eddie said dryly. "Honestly," said VanderMeer, "I won't tell anyone." He patted Eddie on the knee. Eddie stood up abruptly and pulled the stool out. "You don't touch me!" he said. Chuck said to him, "Eddie, hold your breath." "There's no military rule in the Navy that says I'm going to be groped by this old woman." VanderMeer asked drunkenly, "What did you call me?" Eddie said, "If you touch me again, I'll knock your dirty head off!" Chuck said, "Colonel VanderMeer, I know a better place than here, want to go?" VanderMeer looked at him suspiciously: "Where?" Chuck said eloquently, "A quieter and more comfortable place than here—like this, but more private. See what I mean?" "Sounds good." The colonel drank the wine in his glass in one gulp. Chuck grabs VanderMeer's right arm while motioning for Eddie to grab his left.They took Colonel VanderMeer, who was drunk, outside the bar. Fortunately, there was a taxi parked in the dark alley.Chuck opened the car door for VanderMeer. At this moment, VanderMeer kissed Eddie. The colonel put his arms around Eddie, pressed his lips to Eddie's, and murmured, "I love you." Chuck was filled with fear.It's not easy to clean up now. Eddie punched VanderMeer hard in the stomach.The Colonel was panting with pain.Eddie punched him in the face again.Chuck hurried between the two of them, and carried him into the back of the rental before VanderMeer fell to the ground. Chuck stuck his head through the window and handed the driver a ten-dollar bill: "Send him home, no change." The taxi drove away. Chuck looked at Eddie. "Boy," he said, "we're in trouble now." But Eddie Parry was not charged with assaulting an officer. 第二天一早，范德米尔上校肿着眼睛走进老行政大楼，可没对任何人进行举报。如果被人知道在“帽沿乐队”酒吧和下属打架的话，范德米尔也就晋升无望了。不过，办公楼的所有人都在谈论范德米尔的伤情。鲍勃·斯特朗说：“范德米尔说他在家里的车库被一摊油滑倒了，脸摔在了割草机上。但我觉得他是被老婆打了。你见过他老婆吗？长得跟杰克·邓普西似的。” 那天，地下室的译码员告诉尼米兹海军上将，日军将在6月4日对中途岛进行袭击。他们还明确向上将指出，日军将在上午七点出现在环礁北面一百七十五英里的洋面上。 他们的语气非常确定。 埃迪很灰心。“我们什么都干不了。”午饭时他对查克说。他同样在海军情报部门工作，知道译码员揭示的日本强大军力。“它们在太平洋上配备了两百艘军舰——几乎全部的海军力量——我们呢？只有三十五艘！” 查克倒没有埃迪这么悲观。“但日军只有四分之一的兵力在太平洋上，其他都在本土和被他们占领的殖民地上，还有一些是预备役。” “那又怎样？即便是四分之一，也比整个太平洋舰队强。” “日本海军真正有实力的就是四艘航空母舰。” “但我们只有三艘，”埃迪用拿着三明治的手指着干船坞里站满了维修工、舰身满是黑烟的航空母舰，“还包括这艘快成废铁的'约克城号'。” “我们知道他们要来，他们却不知道我们已经严阵以待了。” “希望真能达到尼米兹上将想象中出其不意的打击效果。” “是的，我也这么想。” 回到地下室，查克得知，他被调职了。他被分配到“约克城号”航空母舰上执行任务。 “这是范德米尔在惩罚我。”那天晚上，埃迪泪光闪闪地说，“他想让你死。” “别这么悲观，”查克为他打气，“我们也许能赢呢。” 攻击前几天，日军换了一套新的密码。地下室里的工作人员们长叹了声气，挠着头皮开始了新一轮的解码工作。但在日军展开攻击之前，他们的收获并不多。尼米兹必须按原来制订的整套计划去部署战斗，希望日军不要在最后一刻改变原来的一揽子计划。 日军希望打美国人一个措手不及，轻松地用闪电战夺取中途岛。他们希望美国海军能调动全部舰艇进行还击。那时，日本海军将调用后续的备用舰只，把整个美国海军一举歼灭。达成这个目标的话，日本将成为太平洋上的王者。 没有了太平洋舰队，美国只能低下头来祈求和谈。 尼米兹准备在日军夺取中途岛前对日本舰队进行伏击，把偷袭扼杀在萌芽之中。 查克就是参加伏击计划的一员。 他收拾好旅行袋，吻别了埃迪。两人一起走到码头。 这时，他们撞见了范德米尔。 “没时间修水密舱了，”范德米尔告诉他们，“如果被打穿了，这艘航空母舰会像铅制的棺材一样往水底沉。” 查克按住埃迪的肩膀，尽力使他克制：“上校，你的眼睛怎么样了？” 范德米尔嘴巴一撇，露出狰狞的笑容：“同性恋，祝你好运。”说完，他就离开了。 和埃迪握手告别后，查克登上了约克城号的甲板。 查克很快忘了范德米尔，因为他实现了长久以来的愿望：作为水兵出海——还是美军最为宏伟的航空母舰。 约克城号是美国所有航空母舰中最宏伟的一艘。舰上的甲板比两个足球场长，船员有两千多名。航空母舰上搭载着九十架战斗机：老式可折叠机翼的道格拉斯破坏者式鱼雷轰炸机，新式的道格拉斯坚守者俯冲式轰炸机，以及为轰炸机护航的格鲁曼战斗机。 除了飞行甲板上三十英尺高的岛状塔台之外，其他设施都不太高。岛状塔台包括了航空母舰的通信和指挥中心，指挥中心连着一座舰桥，舰桥下藏着无线电中心、海图室和飞行员休息室。舰桥后面是排成一列的三根烟囱组成的巨大烟道。 当航空母舰开出干船坞，离开珍珠港时，几个修理工还在进行着扫尾工作。查克激动地倾听着航空母舰驶入大海时引擎突突的呼啸声。当航空母舰行入深水，在波浪间上下起伏时，查克觉得自己像在跳舞似的。 查克被分配在了无线电中心，一个能利用上他信号工作经验的岗位。 约克城号航空母舰鸣着汽笛来到了中途岛东北面的约定地点，刚焊上去的金属块像新鞋似的吱吱直响。航空母舰上有个供应自制冰激凌的冷饮柜台。舰上的第一天下午，查克在冷饮柜台遇见了上次在“帽沿乐队”酒吧见过的特雷佛·帕克斯曼。他很庆幸在舰上遇见一位朋友。 在预定袭击日的前一天，6月3日星期三，一架执行侦察任务的水上飞机在中途岛以西目击到一支日本海军的运输船队——船上运送的多半是攻下环礁之后派驻当地的占领军。这个消息很快传到了所有美方舰艇上，无线电中心的查克是第一批知道的人。这充分证明了他在地下室的同伴的判断是正确的，消息证实以后，查克大大地松了一口气。他意识到这其中包含着一些讽刺的意味：如果译码员判断错误，日军进攻其他地方的话，自己就不会陷入危险的境地了。 他已经在海军待了一年半，但还没参加过任何战役。匆匆修缮的约克城号航空母舰却将成为日本鱼雷和炸弹的活靶子。约克城号正向千方百计想把它击沉的日军开去，查克也将同它一起沉没。查克的心情很复杂。大多数时候他出奇地平静，但时不时却会产生从航空母舰一侧跳下去，游回夏威夷的冲动。 那天晚上他给父母写了封信。如果明天就死，他和信可能会一起葬身海底，但他还是写了。在信里，他没有提及被调职到航空母舰上的原由。他的脑海中闪过向父母承认自己是同性恋的念头，但很快把这个念头抛到了一边。他告诉父母他爱他们，对他们为自己所做的一切表示感谢。“如果我在一场民主国家对抗残暴军事独裁的战争中死去的话，我的生命就没有白费。”在信中他这样写道。念这句话的时候他觉得有些浮夸，但这正是他当时心情的真实写照。 这一夜过得很快。飞行员凌晨一点半吃饭，查克特意去食堂对特雷佛·帕克斯曼表达良好的祝愿。为了补偿飞行员们的早起，食堂特意为他们准备了牛排和鸡蛋。 飞机从甲板下的机库通过电梯送到甲板上，然后被手推到固定机位进行加油和武器调试。一些飞行员驾机起飞，出去寻找敌人的踪迹。另一些穿着全套行头坐在训令室，等待着前方发回来的消息。 查克到无线电室值班。六点前的一刻，他从一架执行侦察任务的水上飞机那里得到电波讯号：许多敌机正在向中途岛扑来 几分钟以后他又收到一段不完整的讯号： 敌人的军舰 战斗的大幕马上就要拉开了。 一分钟后完整的电波讯号来了，来袭的日军正好在译码员预计的方位。查克既感到骄傲，又觉得害怕。 美军把自己的三艘航空母舰——约克城号、企业号、大黄蜂号——布置在了起飞的战斗机可以对日本舰队进行打击的攻击方位上。 舰桥上，站着五十七岁的长鼻子上将弗兰克·弗莱彻，他在上次大战中获得过海军十字勋章。上将说：“我们还没见到一架日军战斗机，这意味着他们还不知道我们来了。” 查克知道，这正是美军的目标：在情报工作上领先对手一步。 日军无疑想复制珍珠港的情形，神不知鬼不觉地夺取中途岛。由于译码员们的努力，这一幕再不会发生，中途岛美军跑道上的战斗机也不会成为日军的活靶子了。日本轰炸机来临的时候，美国的战斗机都已经升空，准备与对方大战一场了。 无线电室的官兵们紧张地收听着中途岛和日军舰只之间断断续续的无线电讯号。他们确信，狭小的环礁上必将爆发一场激战，但他们不知道哪方将取得胜利。 很快，从中途岛起飞的美军战斗机飞到日本舰队头顶，对日本的航空母舰展开了攻击。 据查克所知，高射炮在战斗中具有着相当的优势。在双方的相互空袭中，中途岛的美军基地只受到了象征性的打击。在美军方面，大部分投向日本舰只的炸弹和鱼雷都偏离了目标。双方在空袭中的战斗机损失却相当大。 双方似乎打了个平手——但查克却非常不安，因为日军的储备比美军多。 七点前一刻，约克城号、企业号、大黄蜂号三艘航空母舰折向东南行进。这个举措使它们不幸地远离了敌人，使舰上的飞机必须要在东南向的海风中起飞。 约克城号上的战斗机和轰炸机加足马力，沿着跑道一架接一架地冲天而去。航空母舰的各个角落随着它们的升空微微地颤抖着。查克注意到野猫在甲板上加速时，有先提起右侧机翼再提起左翼的习惯，想起了许多飞行员对此的抱怨。 八点半，三艘航空母舰累计发出了一百五十五架对日军攻击群发动进攻的战机。 第一方阵的战机在预计时间抵达日军舰队上方。此时，日本航空母舰正在为刚从中途岛返回的战斗机加油和整顿军备。航空母舰甲板上蛇形的输油管旁零零散散地扔着弹药箱，如果轰炸机能准确投弹的话，日本的航空母舰将在一瞬间变成惨绝人寰的人间地狱。 但这一幕并没有出现。 第一方阵的轰炸机几乎都被日军消灭了。 破坏者式鱼雷轰炸机已经老掉牙了，野猫也好不到哪里去，两者都无法与操纵灵活、快速机动的零式战斗机相比。这些满载着军火飞到日本舰只上空的美国战机都被日本海军航空母舰上杀伤力极强的高射炮火消灭了。 从移动的飞机往移动的航空母舰上扔炸弹，或是往航空母舰可能经过的地方扔鱼雷，都是非常困难的，对于一个遭受上下夹攻的飞行员来说更是如此。 大多数飞行员在尝试向航空母舰投弹的过程中献出了宝贵的生命。 没有一个飞行员命中目标。 美国的炸弹和鱼雷都错过了目标。从三艘美军航空母舰上起飞的三批次战斗机没有对日军的攻击战舰造成任何伤害。日军航空母舰甲板上的军火没有爆炸，输油管也没有着火。日本参战的四艘航空母舰毫发无损。 听到无线电里的对话，查克更气馁了。 他以全新的视角看待七个月前日军对珍珠港的空袭，审视出了对方的天才构想。袭击的时候，美军的舰只一艘挨着一艘拥挤地停泊在港内，是相对容易轰炸的静态目标。可能对舰只加以保护的战斗机已经在跑道上被炸毁了。等到美军架设好高射炮时，日军的攻击几乎都结束了。 但眼前的战斗依然在延续着，只有少部分战机抵达了目标区域。他听到企业号上有个空军军官在无线电中大喊：“攻击，你们快给我攻击啊！”可飞行员的回复也很简单：“照办，一找到那些浑蛋就开炸。”大多数美军的飞机都没找到目标呢！ 幸运的是，日军将领暂时还没派战机轰炸美国的航空母舰。他仍然按照既定方案，把进攻的目标对准中途岛。他已经知道自己正处于美军舰载飞机的攻击之下，但他也许还不知道美军的战舰分布在哪呢。 尽管占据了优势，但美军离胜利还差远了！ 一瞬间形势变了。从企业号上起飞的三十七架道格拉斯坚守者俯冲式轰炸机发现了日本海军的舰队。刚才和美军战机缠斗的零式战斗机降落到海平面附近保护日军的舰艇，美军的轰炸机借此幸运地飞到零式战斗机头顶，可以靠强烈阳光的遮蔽对零式战斗机进行出其不意的打击。没几分钟，约克城号上起飞的十七架道格拉斯坚守者俯冲式轰炸机也到达了目标区域，其中一架的飞行员正是特雷佛·帕克斯顿。 无线频率里充满了激动的谈话声。查克闭上眼睛，试图分辨出飞行员们都说了些什么。他没有分辨出特雷佛的声音。 在谈话声之外，他开始听见俯冲式轰炸机俯冲时特有的嘶鸣声。美军的攻击开始了。 飞行员突然爆发出庆祝胜利的欢呼声，这是开战以来的第一次。 “浑蛋，终于抓住你们了！” “狗屎，要你们好看！” “狗娘养的，快来受死吧！” “先吃我一炮！” "Burn them!" 无线电室的工作人员疯狂地庆祝起来，却并不知道到底发生了什么事。 几分钟以后，通讯中的庆祝结束了，无线电室过了很久才收到了比较清晰的战况报告。飞行员们沉浸在胜利的喜悦，没有把战情及时汇报回去。平静下心情飞回各自的舰只以后，查克才了解到这次攻势的大体情况。 特雷佛·帕克斯曼幸运地活下来了。 和前一次一样，大多数炸弹没有击中目标，但有十来发炸弹命中了，这些炸弹对日本的航空母舰造成了极大的创伤。加贺号航空母舰、苍龙号航空母舰以及日军旗舰赤城号航空母舰刹那间变成三个火球，只有飞龙号幸免于难。 “四艘之中消灭了三艘！”查克兴奋地叫嚷着，“他们还没找到我们在哪儿呢！” 这话说得太早，日本人很快找到了他们。 弗莱彻海军上将派出十架道格拉斯坚守者俯冲式轰炸机侦察幸存的日本航空母舰的情况。与此同时，约克城号上的雷达却发现一队日军战机正从五十英里以外朝美国舰队所在的方向进发，这些战机应该是从幸存的飞龙号航空母舰上起飞的。正午的时候，弗莱彻海军上将派遣十二架野猫升空迎敌。其他的战斗机也领命升空，避免在敌人发动袭击时停在甲板上被动挨炸。同时，约克城号的输油管线周围被喷洒了许多二氧化碳，以避免管线起火蔓延。 日本的战机攻击群由十四架九九式俯冲式轰炸机，以及为它们护航的零式战斗机组成。 我的第一次战斗终于来临了，查克想。他突然想吐，连忙狠咽了一口口水。 在日军的攻击战机群到来之前，约克城号上的炮手们摆开了架势。舰上配备了四对炮管直径为五英寸的巨型高射炮，炮弹能发射几英里远。借助雷达对敌机方位的探测，炮兵向即将来临的敌机发射了一排五十四英磅重的巨型炮弹，把爆炸的时间定在了炮弹击中目标的那一刻。 根据飞行员用无线电发回的报告，飞在攻击敌机之上的野猫炸落了六架轰炸机和三架战斗机。 查克带着监听到的情报跑进塔台上的指挥中心，告诉指挥官没被击落的几架敌机即将接近美军的舰只。弗莱彻海军上将冷静地说：“除了戴上帽子之外，我什么都做不了。” 查克望向窗外，看见日本的俯冲式轰炸机正以几乎垂直降落的角度向自己冲来。他克制住自己，没有一屁股坐在地上。 航空母舰猛然转舵向左折转，任何避免被敌军的俯冲式轰炸机撞上的努力都值得一试。 约克城号的甲板上还配有四尊装备四根炮管的小口径短距离高射炮，此时这四尊高射炮齐齐发射，护卫舰上的长枪短炮也同时指天发射。 舰桥上的查克惊恐地发现敌人的俯冲式轰炸机飞得越来越近，眼看就要和航空母舰撞上了。这时，甲板上的一位炮手瞄准敌机，准确地击中了冲在最前面的那一架。轰炸机断成三截，两截掉进海里，一截撞在了航空母舰的舰身。很快，第二架俯冲式轰炸机被击中了，查克欢呼起来。 但敌人还有六架俯冲式轰炸机。 约克城号突然向右折转。 剩下的六架俯冲式轰炸机冒着美军的炮火，依然紧紧追随着约克城号。 当轰炸机接近航空母舰的时候，飞行甲板两边狭窄通道上设置的机关枪也同时开火。五英寸高射炮、小口径短距离高射炮、机关枪高低不同的发射声混杂在一起，混合成一曲死亡的协奏曲。 查克看见了朝航空母舰飞来的第一颗炸弹。 许多日本炸弹都装了延迟导火线。炸弹不是一撞上目标就炸，而是会延迟一两秒。他们是想等炸弹穿透甲板，进入航空母舰内部时再炸，对航空母舰造成最大限度的破坏。 但这颗炸弹却在甲板上滚动。 查克满心恐惧地看着这枚炸弹。开始，这枚炸弹似乎造不成任何伤害。但很快，它就砰的一声炸开了，燃起一片火焰。近旁的两尊小口径短距离高射炮瞬间化为灰烬。临近的甲板和塔台也起了一点小火。 令查克吃惊的是，周围的人却像在会议室演练战术一样从容。弗莱彻海军上将即便在踉跄走过舰桥上摇摇晃晃的甲板时还在发布着指令。很快，损伤处置小队便带着消防水龙冲到了飞行甲板上，担架组抬起伤者，顺着陡峭的舱梯把伤者送进了甲板下的急救站。 航空母舰上没有燃起大火：输油管道周围的二氧化碳阻止了火势的蔓延。甲板上没有停留装着炸弹的战斗机，去除了战斗机起爆燃烧的可能。 没过多久，另一架九九式呼啸而下，投射的一颗炸弹击中了航空母舰上的大烟囱。剧烈的爆炸使航空母舰晃了几晃。一股黑烟从烟囱里喷射而出。航空母舰一下子慢下来了，查克意识到，炸弹一定损坏了发动机。 更多的炸弹没有击中目标，落在舰身周围的海里，把夹杂着受伤者鲜血的海水溅在甲板上。 约克城号慢慢停下了。受损的舰只停下不动以后，日军的俯冲式轰炸机朝舰上扔下了第三颗炸弹，炸弹穿过航空母舰前侧的升降机，在下方的某处爆炸了。 突然，一切都结束了，幸存的几架九九式俯冲式轰炸机爬升到太平洋上空碧蓝的天际里。 我还活着，查克庆幸地想。 航空母舰并没有被炸毁。日本战机还没远离，舰上的消防队便已经开始工作了。在甲板下面工作的工程师们说，他们能在一小时之内使锅炉恢复正常。维修组用六英尺长、四英尺宽的杉木板补上了飞行甲板上炸弹砸出的大洞。 但航空母舰的对外无线电通讯中断了，弗莱彻海军上将失去了与外界联系的通道。他带着副官转移到阿斯托利亚号巡洋舰上，把战役的指挥权移交给企业号的舰长斯普鲁恩斯海军少将。 查克小声说：“该死的范德米尔——我活下来了！” 这话说得早了点。 发动机突突作响，重新恢复了工作。在海军上校巴克马斯特的指挥下，约克城号重新开始在太平洋里劈波斩浪。约克城号上的一些战斗机已经转移到了企业号上，另一些还在空中飞翔。约克城号重新起航后，这些战斗机飞回舰上，进行加油。无线电通讯中断，查克和战友只能组成一支旗语队，用古老的旗语与其他舰只联系。 下午两点半，为约克城号护航的巡洋舰上的雷达监测到了从西面飞过来的日本战斗机——估计是从飞龙号航空母舰上起飞的。巡洋舰通过旗语把这条讯息传到了航空母舰上。巴克马斯特海军上校派十二架野猫升空迎敌。 野猫式战斗机没能阻止住日本轰炸机的前进，十架日军的鱼雷轰炸机贴近海平面，气势汹汹地朝约克城号直扑过来。 查克清楚地看到了这些轰炸机。它们是被美国人称为“凯茨”的中岛B5Ns鱼雷轰炸机。这种飞机的机身下面悬挂着一颗鱼雷，几乎有半架飞机那么长。 保卫航空母舰的四艘重型巡洋舰对准航空母舰周围的海里发射炮弹，掀起了一道水帘。但日本飞行员却没有善罢甘休，冒着危险飞过水帘。 查克看见直冲过来的第一架鱼雷轰炸机投下了一颗鱼雷。鱼雷溅入海水，向约克城号漂来。 鱼雷轰炸机从航空母舰的甲板上擦身而过，查克清晰地看见了飞行员的脸。除了飞行头盔以外，飞行员在头盔外面绑了条红白相间的头巾。他耀武扬威地向甲板上的船员挥了挥拳，然后开着飞机飞走了。 更多的鱼雷轰炸机从航空母舰的头顶呼啸而过。鱼雷的移动速度很慢，舰只有时可以躲过它们，但受损的约克城号却无法带着庞大的身躯在鱼雷之间穿梭绕行。“砰”一声巨响，航空母舰猛地一震：鱼雷的破坏力比常规炸弹大了好几倍。查克觉得鱼雷似乎撞在了舰尾。紧接而来的第二声爆炸却出现在查克近旁，这次爆炸似乎把整艘航空母舰抬了起来，把半数船员震到甲板上。很快，舰上的巨大发动机又哑火了。 没等轰炸机远去，消防队和维修队又重新投入了工作。但这次他们遇上了难题。查克加入了维修队，负责操作水泵，他发现航空母舰的钢铁外壳像块铁皮一样被撕裂了。海水像瀑布一样灌进裂口。没几分钟，查克感到甲板开始倾斜。约克城号正在慢慢向左倾斜。 水泵无法阻挡不断汹涌的水流。舰上的水密舱在珊瑚海战役中严重受损，短短几天的修理没能把它修好，这时更是完全不起作用了。 航空母舰在完全倾覆前还能坚持多久呢？ 三点，查克等来了“弃船”的命令。 水手们从倾斜甲板高出的一端扔下绳索。舰上的工作人员在机库甲板上拉下绳索，几千件救生服像下雨一样从绳索掉落下来。护航的巡洋舰靠近航空母舰，把救生艇放进海里。航空母舰上的船员脱下鞋，然后跨过船沿。由于某种原因，他们把几百双鞋如同祭典似的整齐地排成一列。伤员们被送上担架运到等待着的尖尾救生艇上。查克跳进海水游得飞快，赶在侧翻之前远离约克城号。一阵大浪把查克推得很远，把头上的军帽也给冲走了。幸好自己是在温暖的太平洋：换了大西洋，没等到救援，他就会被冰冷的海水冻死。 查克被一艘不断从海里捞人的救生艇营救了，这样的救生艇一共有十来艘。许多船员从比飞行甲板低的主甲板登上救生艇。约克城号漂浮在水面上，暂时还没有沉没。 所有船员都转移到护航的巡洋舰上。 查克站在巡洋舰甲板上，远眺着西斜的太阳下缓缓下沉的约克城号。查克这才想起整整一天他还没见过一艘日本舰只。全部战役都由战斗机所完成。他不知道这算不算是新型海战的开始。如果是这样的话，航空母舰将成为未来战役的关键所在。其他舰只是指望不上了。 特雷佛·帕克斯曼出现在他身旁。查克很高兴他还活着，兴奋地拥抱了他。 特雷佛告诉查克，最后一波从企业号和约克城号升空的坚守者俯冲式轰炸机重创了日本舰队仅剩的飞龙号航空母舰，在舰上燃起了一片大火，彻底摧毁了飞龙号航空母舰。 “日本的四艘航空母舰都退出战斗了喽？”查克说。 “是的，全被我们拿下了，我们只损失了一艘。” “这意味着我们赢了是吗？”查克问。 “是的，”特雷佛说，“我想应该是。” 中途岛海战之后，交战双方都明白，太平洋战争的胜利将取决于从航空