In Nagumo Chuichi's view, the U.S. carrier-based aircraft went to attack the diversionary group. He believed that his time had come, so he immediately sent out the first attack wave, totaling 27 attack aircraft and 10 fighter jets. An hour later, a second attack was launched.
A wave of 27 attack aircraft and 9 fighter jets were launched to attack the US aircraft carrier formation.
At the same time, two Japanese reconnaissance planes flew over the U.S. aircraft carrier formation, but they were shot down by the U.S. military.
"General!"
Fletcher narrowed his eyes, "Although the Japanese reconnaissance plane was shot down, I believe they must have sent out a position report! In other words, our position has been exposed! Prepare for air defense combat immediately! Increase the number of patrol aircraft
Quantity! Put all fighters on the deck on standby! Change the formation into an air defense formation!"
"yes!"
As a result, the distance between the naval warships began to widen, and the distance between the two groups was more than ten nautical miles.
"General! Our radar detected a group of unidentified fighter jets 88 nautical miles away!"
"Very good, order the bombers and torpedo planes to take off immediately to meet the enemy!"
"yes!"
When the fighter planes began to collide over the ocean, Nagumo Chuichi smiled. The US military had regarded the diversion group as their main force!
And when Fletcher saw dozens of fighter planes beginning to attack the USS Enterprise, he realized that the Japanese army had another ambush!
"boom!"
"boom!"
"boom!"
Bombs kept falling.
"Anti-aircraft guns! Anti-aircraft guns!"
"Your Excellency General, we have been hit by enemy bombs! The Enterprise is on fire! The ship's side is leaking and the hull is listing!"
"Evasion! Didn't you understand what I said?"
…
The artillery fire was flying, causing high waves to explode on the sea.
The sky also slowly became dark.
"Retreat southward!"
"yes!"
In order to avoid a night battle, the U.S. military began to retreat south at high speed.
After the Japanese advance group was attacked, they pursued southward at high speed and sent seaplanes to search. Only a US destroyer was found rescuing the pilot who fell into the water, and nothing else was found.
"Your Excellency Commander, the reinforcement group has arrived near Guadalcanal! It will land soon!"
"Yo Xi! The two aircraft carriers of the US military have suffered serious damage! Order reinforcements to launch an attack on the US military immediately!"
"yes!"
…
Near Guadalcanal, a fleet full of soldiers had nowhere to hide under the fire from fighter planes. Some warships even tilted, took in water, and then sank.
…
The Battle of the East Solomons also came to an end with the withdrawal of the Japanese reinforcements.
When the Japanese Navy faced the U.S. Navy, even though it had numerical advantages in aircraft carriers and battleships, it still failed and failed to recapture Guadalcanal.
When the battle report came to Tojo's desk, Tojo just frowned. In this battle, they were sunk by an aircraft carrier and a destroyer, and were damaged by a seaplane carrier and a destroyer.
90 aircraft were lost. The Japanese navy estimated that at least two US aircraft carriers were seriously damaged. It seems that it is only half a dozen.
But what the Japanese army didn't know was that only one US aircraft carrier was damaged and 17 aircraft were lost.
In other words, the Japanese army completely failed in this battle. Not only did the attempt to annihilate the US aircraft carrier formation fail to be realized, but the purpose of providing reinforcements to Guadalcanal was also not completed.
"So, the mission failed!" Yamamoto Isoroku looked livid and looked at everyone, "We did not make the delivery of reinforcements to Guadalcanal a top priority, and did not make every effort to ensure the safety of the reinforcement group. Instead, we only focused on attacking the US aircraft carrier formation and ignored it.
The protection of the reinforcement group, so when the main group retreats, the reinforcement group loses air cover and falls into a passive situation of being beaten. This is a major mistake in which the purpose of frontline operations is not prioritized!"
No one spoke.
This battle plan was proposed by Yamamoto Isoroku.
The commander, after Yamamoto Isoroku, is Nagumo Chuichi.
Therefore, the main responsibility lies with them.
The loss is not too big, but it is very painful.
"The responsibility for this operation lies with me. I did not explain the priorities clearly before the meeting, which led to General Nagumo Chuichi's misunderstanding!" Yamamoto Isoroku sighed, "Please cheer up, our enemies can return the favor."
exist!"
"Hi!"
If Zhou Weiguo were here, he would definitely still admire Yamamoto Isoroku's spirit of fighting against repeated defeats.
Yamamoto Isoroku stood up and walked out of the office.
"Your Excellency, Prime Minister." Yamamoto Isoroku was a little ashamed when he saw Hideki Tojo. Hideki Tojo gave him complete trust, but he...
"Yamamoto-kun, I am very disappointed." Tojo Hideki closed his eyes, "In this way, Guadalcanal is still in the hands of the Americans. When will our arrangement become solid and intact?"
"Hi! I'm sorry, Prime Minister!" Yamamoto Isoroku could not say anything else.
"That's all, I will urge the logistics side to speed up the transportation of various resources and materials, and will also speed up Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and other military industrial companies to continue to increase production capacity! Yamamoto-kun, there is a long road ahead, don't lose the courage to fight!
"Tojo Hideki opened his eyes, stood up, and patted Yamamoto Isoroku's shoulder as a form of comfort. This time the battle did not achieve their goal, then there will be another time.
"Hi!" Yamamoto Isoroku breathed a sigh of relief, but he also felt even more ashamed.
…
"Your Majesty." Tojo Hideki looked at Emperor Showa and said, "In this battle, both the Imperial Navy and the US military suffered losses, and the reinforcements still failed to land on Guadalcanal."
"I understand." Emperor Showa frowned and sighed, "Tojo-kun, do you still have the courage to move on?"
"Hi! Your Majesty, for the sake of the empire, Tojo Hideki would not hesitate to die!"
"Thank you for your hard work!" Emperor Showa's tone was softer. The good news he had been looking forward to was not available! What came out again and again was failure.
"For the glory of the empire! No hard work!" Hideki Tojo shook his head, "Please don't lose your courage, your majesty! Only by continuing to persevere will the empire have hope! The only way the empire can continue to go down is this path!"
"I understand! Tojo-kun, tell Yamamoto-kun that one failure or several failures is not a problem! Let him let go and fight! The empire will give him extremely strong backing! It doesn't matter if the aircraft carrier is lost! The battleship
It doesn’t matter if we lose! As long as this heart has not failed, we have not failed!”
"Hi!"
For the Japanese, they have no choice but to bite the bullet and go to the dark side. But two consecutive failures will hit even a proud Japanese navy.
As a senior official and a leader, Emperor Showa naturally needs to continue to encourage them at this moment!
So what if the aircraft carrier is gone?
So what if the battleship is gone?
As long as they still have people! The fighting will never stop!
What's more, they are not at the end of their rope yet, and there is still a possibility of a comeback!