Chapter 902: Spruance's Choice

“The Japanese planes have probably already taken off! It’s too late to send out reconnaissance planes now!” Spruance looked in frustration at the nautical chart before him. Because the Pacific had once been the U.S. Navy’s backyard, this chart was extremely detailed.

It was covered with the markings of the reefs and islands of the Solomon Islands, which provided excellent cover for the approaching Japanese fleet. Everyone knew this was no time for complaints, but having been dealt a heavy blow by the enemy, it was indeed difficult to pull oneself together in a short time.

“No, we still have to send out reconnaissance planes! If possible, we must find the Japanese carrier fleet!” In the end, Spruance still gave the order for several floatplanes to take off immediately and patrol to the west, to try and find the Japanese carriers. After giving this order, his mind was still in a complete mess.

His fleet seemed unable to withstand the Japanese battleship force to the east. Once the Japanese warships broke through, the American fleet would have no chance of winning. But the opportunities to launch planes were few and far between, perhaps only one. This required Spruance to make a choice.

If he chose to launch planes to attack the Japanese battleship fleet to the east, he might achieve the result of completely annihilating the Japanese battleship force, but the price might be the heavy damage of the Pacific Fleet by the Japanese army. Perhaps Japan would take the opportunity to retake the Marshall Islands, head north to Wake Island and Midway, and launch another advance on Hawaii. And this time, the United States would have no fleet left to stop them.

Of course, if he ordered an attack on the Japanese carrier fleet, the outcome would not be much better. At the very least, the Japanese battleship fleet would reduce his own fleet to ashes. By the time Halsey’s two battleships came back, the day would be long lost.

However, he had one advantage that the Japanese Navy could never have: even if his entire fleet were to be annihilated, the U.S. Navy would still have more and newer warships being launched. As for the Japanese Navy’s assets, to put it bluntly, for every ship sunk, there was one less.

So, based on this starting point, Spruance decisively made his response. “Order the fighter units to take off first! Drive off any possible Japanese attack groups! We must hurry and recover all the planes from the first wave of attack echelons! Have the third wave of attack echelons remain on standby, ready to depart at any moment!”

“Yes, sir!” A liaison officer from the air group saluted and then began to assign the tasks. The American carriers had a numerical advantage. Even though the current scene was a bit chaotic, they could still, with some effort, find the time to launch their fighters, bit by bit.

Spruance’s plan was this: he would first get some fighters in the air to ensure the absolute security of the airspace above his own fleet, and to find a way to crush the first wave of the Japanese attack group.

Then, he would use his battleships and other ships to hold off the Japanese battleships to the east for as long as possible. Then, he would launch his planes to pounce on the Japanese carrier fleet and sink the numerically inferior Japanese carriers. In the process, his carrier fleet would move west, towards the Japanese carrier fleet to the west, to open up the distance with the Japanese battleship force. Then Halsey’s battleships would begin to head north to block the Japanese battleship fleet to the east, striving to, after paying a heavy price, completely annihilate the Japanese Combined Fleet.

It had to be said that to be able to come up with such a counter-attack plan in such a short time, General Spruance was worthy of his title as a famous general of his generation. However, there were also some wishful-thinking parts in his plan, such as counting on those two old battleships to hold off the attack of the two new Japanese battleships, the Nagato and the Mutsu.

Every plan has its flaws, so after hearing this plan, Halsey nodded in agreement. He led the two battleships under his command, the Washington and the North Carolina, to abandon the pursuit of the wounded Hyūga and to turn and head north.

Over on Captain Miura’s side, he was at his wit’s end fighting against the American planes and warships. But just as it seemed he was about to follow the Ise to its doom, he was met with a “turn of fortune.” He watched as the American warships that had entered his range fired a few hurried shots, then turned and broke off the pursuit.

“Yamamoto-kun’s plan has succeeded! These Americans are contracting their forces!” In the command bridge of the Hyūga, Captain Miura lowered his binoculars and said to his first officer, “They’ve given up attacking us, which means they’re going back to do something more important!”

He gritted his teeth, his hand on his officer’s sword, and finally, fiercely, gave the combat order. “Turn about! Pursue the American battleships! Full speed ahead! Engage those two battleships, prepare for a gunnery duel!”

Miura was truly worthy of the ruthlessness of a Japanese military man. He knew that even if his battleship were to safely disengage from the war zone and eventually return to the Japanese home islands, it would not constitute a much greater combat force. But in this chaotic moment, to help Yamamoto’s main fleet and Nagumo Chuichi’s air fleet to share some of the pressure from the American fleet might just help his own fleet win the war.

So he had resolutely decided to turn back and get entangled with the American battleships, to buy more time for Yamamoto Isoroku’s attack plan. It had to be said that the Japanese Navy’s seventy years of standing in the world with two naval battles was not based on boasting and luck, but on that cunning and ferocity. Captain Miura was a typical example of such a Japanese naval officer, tenacious and unreasonable.

The second wave of American attack aircraft in the sky had already been ordered to return to base. The U.S. Navy had gained some advantage first, achieving the combat record of sinking the Japanese battleship Ise. This was equivalent to getting the “first blood” in the Battle of the Solomon Sea and was definitely a great morale booster.

“Open fire! Tell those Yankees we’re here!” Miura said, his hand on his officer’s sword, giving the combat order as he stared at the sea. “Maintain air defense alert! Be careful of the American planes returning! Send a telegram to Marshal Yamamoto! Tell him our ship is returning to the war zone, preparing to engage the American battleships. Ask him to act at his discretion!”

“Yoshi! Captain Miura is truly a model of the Imperial Navy!” Yamamoto even felt a little regretful. He felt that if he had appointed Miura as the commander of the bait fleet, perhaps the bait fleet could have fought even better. But when he heard that the forward American battleship fleet was beginning to contract, he broke out in a cold sweat at the speed of the U.S. Navy’s reaction.

Since Miura had decided to completely sacrifice the bait fleet to help him, Yamamoto, achieve a great feat, then he, Yamamoto, should not be stingy either. He immediately ordered a telegram to be sent to the Imperial General Headquarters, temporarily promoting Captain Miura to Rear Admiral Miura.

And so, a serious flaw had appeared in Spruance’s plan. Halsey’s fleet, which he had hoped would turn back to deal with Yamamoto’s fleet, was now being tied down by Miura’s one broken ship. The outcome of the entire battlefield was now uncertain, and it had already turned into a complete mess.

“Japanese attack group approaching!” The U.S. Navy, with its radar, was indeed at an advantage over the Japanese Navy, which was as blind as a bat. As the Japanese planes approached the American fleet, the American radar had discovered these uninvited guests.

And so, the American planes on standby in the sky all went up to meet the Japanese attack groups. The Japanese Zero fighter, even though its performance had been figured out by the Americans, was still a very dangerous opponent, because these planes were all flown by the most elite Japanese pilots. A moment of carelessness, and you could be bitten by these crazed sky hounds.

The fighter planes of both sides were soon intertwined. The sound of planes exploding could be heard constantly in the sky. The roar of the engines as both sides pulled up, and the roar of the engines as they dived, made the sky over the Solomon Islands extremely noisy. A world-shaking great air battle had begun, and the first wave of the Japanese attack echelon was in a bitter fight.

“May your fortunes of war be long-lasting!” a Japanese pilot shouted, and then he steered his torpedo-laden plane and charged towards an American aircraft carrier. The American air defense fire was clearly very fierce, and some American destroyers were also doing their best to disperse the Japanese attack formation. The sky was filled with the dazzling straight lines drawn by the tracer rounds, forming a dense and impenetrable net.

This plane crashed into the wall of fire spewed by the American anti-aircraft guns and was instantly turned into a pile of burning debris. But another Japanese plane, following behind this one, luckily broke through the air defense screen and accurately launched a torpedo at the distant American carrier.

A white straight line extended rapidly in the sea, and then it struck the U.S. Navy’s aircraft carrier USS Ranger. A huge explosion then slowed the carrier down, and a raging fire broke out, which was difficult to extinguish for a time. With such a good start, the Japanese planes would naturally not waste the opportunity and seized the chance to drop a few more torpedoes on this carrier.

And so, the hull of the American carrier Ranger began to list amidst the explosions. The main fleet had just begun to engage, and already one carrier had been sunk. This was definitely not good news for the U.S. Navy fleet. Spruance, on the bridge of the carrier USS Wasp, looked at the billowing thick smoke in the distance, not knowing how to end all of this as soon as possible.

Soon, these Japanese carrier-based aircraft showed their superiority in attack quality. After all, these carrier-based pilots were also the last of the Japanese Naval Air Arm’s elite. They continued to attack the American fleet, and in the face of heavy casualties, they actually created another unparalleled opportunity.

The aircraft carrier USS Yorktown was hit by a Japanese plane and began to burn. This was the second main carrier of the U.S. Navy to be hit. This also meant that the American carrier fleet had lost almost half of its strength before it had even begun to counter-attack.

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