Chapter 96 Good steel should be used on the cutting edge

The two task force fleets of the U.S. military are under the unified command of Fletcher, but during operations, the two fleets attack separately, and each retains sufficient mobility. put in the same basket. Spruance remained silent until the decisive battle began.He is the complete opposite of his predecessor, Halsey, in character. Halsey is whirlwind, likes to do nothing, think first, and Spruance is as calm as a robot. He will think twice before doing anything. Even in the banquet, the difference between the two can be seen.Halsey would not refuse anyone, and he drank from the glass, and when he was happy, he could drink even the best drinker in the fleet to get under the table.Spruance would never do that, saying, "I'm not going to punish my stomach with this stuff."

Nimitz admired both generals very much, and once described brilliantly: "Spruance is the general of generals, and Halsey is the general of sailors." After the Battle of Midway, Nimitz felt sincerely that replacing Halsey by Spruance was a wrong move. With the limited strength of the US military, he was more successful than the brave and impulsive Halsey. Being good at keeping a clear head in the face of pressure is Spruance's greatest strength.Since entering the waters of Midway Island, he has faced the temptation to annihilate the enemy many times. If it were Halsey, he might have picked up the ax and chopped it, but Spruance chose to turn a blind eye.

They are all generals, who doesn't want to sink as many Japanese ships as possible, but Spruance must face up to reality.The reality is that the U.S. military is extremely short of aircraft carriers. There are only three precious aircraft carriers in the attacking force. What if something goes wrong and is sunk?Even if it doesn't sink, it won't do if the damage is too heavy. The only purpose of the aircraft carrier is to be used as a water airport. If it is made unable to take off and land aircraft, it will become a waste in a war. During the expedition, Nimitz repeatedly gave the order: "You must follow the principle of not taking risks easily..."

Don't take risks easily, it doesn't mean that you don't take risks, it means that good steel should be used wisely. As soon as the mobile unit showed up, everything was there. Reed, who was the first to discover his whereabouts, not only reported to the Midway Island command post, but also directly passed the information to the task force.Spruance was determined to dispatch all of the fleet's carrier-based aircraft to attack the enemy's aircraft carrier. Fletcher also made the same decision, but he suffered from being counter-attacked by Japanese aircraft during the Battle of the Coral Sea, so he stayed The "Yorktown" carrier-based aircraft was used as a reserve.

Spruance himself, like Nimitz, had no pilot experience, but Chief of Staff Browning was an expert in aviation, and even Halsey thought he was great. In order to cause the greatest blow to the enemy aircraft carrier, it is very necessary to choose the appropriate time to attack.Experienced Browning estimated that the first attack aircraft of the mobile force would return to the aircraft carrier around 9 o'clock. Before that, Nagumo would almost certainly not change the aircraft carrier's course, so without further delay, an attack should be launched immediately. Immediate attack means sacrifice, especially the carrier-based torpedo planes of the "Hornet" are still TBD "destroyers". Not only are the models old, but the combat range is only 175 nautical miles. It is certain that they will not be able to return to the aircraft carrier after completing the attack.

Although Spruance has a deep and introverted personality, his feelings for his subordinates are no less than that of the bold Halsey, but there is no way. The commander's responsibility requires him to make a decision without hesitation: sacrifice a few, preserve the most. When Amari reported to Nagumo that the U.S. fleet was changing course, it was also when the two aircraft carriers "Bumblebee" and "Enterprise" to which Spruance belonged turned against the wind. At that time, Spruance had already discovered the Japanese reconnaissance plane through radar, but Ganli was quite good at hide-and-seek. The US combat patrol plane searched it, but failed to find it.

It doesn't matter if you can't find it, because the carrier-based fleet has already been dispatched. This is a huge fleet consisting of 116 fighters. The time was 9:17 in the morning, and in one minute, Nagumo would be able to take back all the Tomonaga fleet, but at this time the attack fleet on the "Bumblebee" came. The attack fleet had been separated during the flight, and the bomber fleet lost its way and could not find the mobile unit, so it had to return to the aircraft carrier.The fighters were even more unlucky than the bombers, all of whom were forced to land at sea after running out of fuel.

It was not without reason that the bombers and fighter jets could not find the mobile unit—the mobile unit was retreating, and when the two fleets reached the originally determined positions, the building was already empty. In the end, only the torpedo plane group led by Major Waldron successfully flew over the mobile unit.