Chapter 95 shocking report

This was Amari's first report to Nagumo, the one that found 10 surface ships. Undoubtedly, Nagumo has already learned of the existence of the US fleet. The question is, has he confirmed that it is the aircraft carrier formation of the Pacific Fleet?Nimitz is most concerned about this. From predicting when and where the mobile force will attack, Layton has almost become an all-knowing god. He believes that judging from the contents of the report, Nagumo has not yet discovered the US aircraft carrier. Nimitz pondered and asked again: "Are you sure?" Leighton replied, "Yes, sir."

Nimitz nodded. He walked into the war room with the report and asked the officer on duty to mark on the map where the task force might appear according to the content of the report. Estimated from the time of Ganli's report, the current task force is 150 nautical miles away from the mobile force, and has entered the effective attack radius.This means that the battle is about to be decided. It is indeed not easy for Ganli to find out the situation of the task force. It is like peeking into the car through the glass. How many people are in the car is always blurred from the outside.At 8:30 in the morning, the latest report came from Amari: "There appears to be an aircraft carrier in the rear of the enemy fleet."

Nanyun was shocked, and felt as if he had strayed into the opponent's ambush circle.He did make preparations to attack the U.S. fleet, but the preparations were not sufficient. The only ones that could take off immediately were the 36 dive bombers on the "Flying Dragon" and "Cangryu" and the "Akagi" and "Kaga" that had been modified with bombs. torpedo machine. There are specialties in the field of technology, and the specialty of the Japanese naval aviation is to carry out torpedo bombing, but the level of dive bombing is not ideal, and the effect is also poor. Compared with when the torpedo is installed.

The more difficult point is that Nagumo can't send fighter jets to cover the bombers.His "Zeros" were all in the air, some were circling in the air, some were chasing the Midway attack group, and some were injured, but the common feature of these fighters was that there was very little fuel left on board. What will happen to the bomber group without fighter cover?The five strike groups at Midway Island are the best example. Covered by fighter jets, the bomber fleet does not mean peace of mind, but if there is no fighter escort at all, it will be watched at any time, and there will be bad luck.

If the U.S. aircraft carrier had been discovered earlier, or had made up its mind earlier to restore all the loading torpedo planes on the "Akagi" and "Kaga" to their original state, they would not be so embarrassed. Just when Nagumo was regretting, the Tomonaga fleet had already returned to the team. The "Chikuma" cruiser mistook the Tomonaga aircraft group for the US carrier-based aircraft at first, and the other escort ships thought it was a new batch of attack aircraft from Midway Island. Someone with sharp eyes recognized that it was the returning flight group, thus avoiding the loss.

Now there is another problem in front of Nanyun, and it is imminent.The Youyong fleet is circling and waiting to land. Some of the planes have been flying for a long distance and are seriously short of fuel. If they stay in the air for a second, they may plop into the sea. When feeling undecided, the core staff can often play an irreplaceable role, so Nimitz would ask Layton, and Nagumo turned his face to Genda. Genda, the number one think tank of the Mobile Force, had a very simple thinking: "Could it be possible to watch more than 100 fighter planes being reimbursed for forced landings on the sea, and let more than 200 crew members float around in the sea, waiting for the destroyer to come forward to rescue them? , what is this called?"

Genda suggested to Nagumo and Kusaka that the flight deck should be cleaned first, and while the torpedo planes were being loaded into the hangar to replace the torpedoes, the Tomonaga fleet would be recovered, and the fighter jets among them would escort the bombers after refueling. Such a clever plan that kills two birds with one stone, how could anyone not be a genius come up with it?Genda encouraged his coach: "A decisive person will never hesitate." This seems to say, if you are a man, don't be a softie.Nagumo considered himself the winner of the attack on Pearl Harbor, so he was not willing to be a coward. After hearing Genda's words, he immediately ordered: "The carrier bombers prepare for the second attack and load torpedoes!"

The planned first attack on Midway never got off the ground, and it was time for another change.The aircraft can be hoisted, and those heavy bombs and torpedoes have to be carried and loaded manually. A single bomb weighs 800 kilograms. While being puzzled, some people had no choice but to accept their fate: "Look, I have to do it all over again, this thing makes it look like a quick dress-up competition." More people complained: "What is the headquarters doing?" After 5 minutes of intense assault, the flight deck was cleared and the Tomonaga fleet could land.Near 9:00 am, Tomonaga's last bomber landed, leaving only a few fighters that had yet to be recovered.

Nagumo changed the original course of Midway Island. He ordered the maneuvering force to retreat to avoid the US planes attacking again. At the same time, he planned to refuel all the planes on the aircraft carrier, and all the torpedo planes were loaded with torpedoes. In order to accumulate strength, and then launch a full-scale attack on the US fleet that "contains 1 aircraft carrier". Theoretically speaking, Nagumo's command can be called impeccable, but in the case of losing the initiative on the battlefield, the so-called "accumulation of strength" can only delay the opportunity for combat.

Good luck was no longer on his side. Spruance and Fletcher took a step ahead of him. Just this step was enough to change the whole situation of the battle.