Chapter 903: To Hold On is Victory

Though two aircraft carriers were lost and the American fleet was now in a perilous position, Spruance was determined to fight on. He knew America could not accept defeat now. He had to keep winning, to keep the wolves in Congress from impeaching Nimitz and Roosevelt, the men who backed him.

Based on this conviction, he naturally cast aside any humiliating thoughts of preserving the fleet by escaping. What he was thinking now was how to turn this sea battle into a victory—a great victory for the United States Navy.

“Alright! Alright! I understand! Thank you for everything you’ve done for America!” An aide put down the phone and hurried to Spruance’s side to report. “General! A message just came back from a floatplane. They’ve spotted the Japanese fleet to the west, at coordinates almost exactly where you predicted.”

“Launch the attack planes immediately! Counter-attack along the path the Japanese carrier planes came from! I want to ensure we sink those Japanese carriers! Do you understand?” Spruance said through gritted teeth, looking at the air group liaison officer behind him.

“Yes, sir!” The officer saluted and rushed to issue the order. The quality of the U.S. Navy’s carrier aircraft was not much better than Japan’s, but they had an overwhelming numerical superiority. Even with two carriers burning and slowly sinking, the number of American carrier planes was still far greater than Japan’s.

This wave of Japanese attack planes numbered about forty, which was nearly half of the Japanese Navy’s entire air arm. In other words, Japan could maintain this intensity for one more attack, but after that, they would be spent. As long as they could withstand these two waves of Japanese attacks, the U.S. Navy would have weathered the most dangerous period.

Thinking of this, Spruance saw that he still had a chance. If this wave of carrier planes counter-attacking Nagumo’s fleet could complete its mission, then he might even be able to turn the tables and sink the entire Japanese fleet, sending Yamamoto Isoroku’s “Combined Fleet” to the bottom of the Solomon Sea.

But soon, another piece of news arrived. A staff officer reported to General Spruance that the American battleships Washington and North Carolina had been intercepted by a Japanese battleship that had turned back. “The two sides are currently exchanging fire. The Japanese Navy’s gunnery is very strong. The situation is extremely intense.”

“…” The fact that a Japanese warship had turned back so recklessly shocked the senior officers of the U.S. Navy. They had all heard that many Japanese soldiers were unafraid of death, but today they had truly witnessed madness. Who could guarantee that after having just escaped from the gates of hell, they could make the resolute decision to charge back in?

“Send a telegram to Halsey! Tell him to maintain his return speed and sink that Japanese battleship!” Spruance, at this moment, also showed the fierce side of his military nature, his voice harsh as he clenched his fist.

His thinking was remarkably simple: since his operational plan had already been disrupted, he now had only one objective—to sink more Japanese warships. Sink one if you can, and drag as many Japanese warships down with you as possible. That was his tactic now.

“Have the battleships Colorado and Mississippi continue to move east. They must prevent the Japanese battleships from approaching the fleet!” Spruance continued to adjust the already chaotic formation of the American fleet. He was trying his best to complete his original plan. Even if the two new battleships could not return to their defensive positions on time, they still had to open up the distance with the two battleships in Yamamoto Isoroku’s hands.

The battleship Colorado had been heavily damaged during the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. In peacetime, such heavy damage might not have been repaired in two years. But the U.S. military had pulled out all the stops and had finally managed to get this battleship to the epic naval battle of the Solomon Islands. But what kind of role this battleship could play, only heaven knew.

This battleship was now barely able to move. Its main guns could not fire a full salvo, as that would cause its temporarily reinforced internal support structure to disintegrate. And it could only manage a speed of 15 knots, not much faster than the transport ships behind it. The main reason it had been brought along was to act as a floating battery to support the American landing on the Solomon Islands.

But in the end, man proposes, God disposes. The U.S. Navy and the Japanese Navy had so unceremoniously begun the Battle of the Solomon Islands. The semi-fixed gun platform that had originally been intended to support the Marine landings was now being used as a decisive-battle battleship, pushed to the very periphery of the entire fleet.

It should be said that this Colorado actually had a great deal of history with the Japanese Nagato-class battleships. Back then, because their main guns had the same caliber, they had been called the “Big Seven.” So if they were to fight a decisive battle under equal conditions, it was very likely they would be evenly matched.

Unfortunately, the Japanese Navy had, in 1937, gritted its teeth and completed a modernization refit for both the Nagato and the Mutsu. The U.S. Navy, on the other hand, due to the impact of the financial crisis, had not carried out a large-scale refit of the Colorado-class battleships—so there was now a bit of a gap.

Moreover, the Colorado’s internal injuries were very serious. It was a complete shell of a ship. Anyone in the know was very clear that the current Colorado could not even be considered a fragile battlecruiser, but only a “large cruiser.”

“There’s no other way! We can only assign tasks like this now! Until the Washington and North Carolina return, the Japanese fleet to the east can only be handled by the old battleships and ourselves,” Spruance said, staring at the sea chart and temporarily ignoring the threat from the east. He had to calm down now and concentrate on the showdown between the U.S. Navy’s carrier fleet and Nagumo Chuichi’s air fleet.

Having eliminated the threat from the flank, what the American fleet now had to face was a proper carrier-based aircraft duel. Just now, the American carrier planes had already formed up and departed, heading for Nagumo Chuichi’s carrier fleet. After one exchange, the U.S. Navy now temporarily held the upper hand.

Of the 40 Japanese carrier planes, not one in ten remained. Most had been shot down by the superior American planes and anti-aircraft fire. So in this round of engagement, although the Japanese Navy had achieved the combat record of sinking two American carriers, they had also suffered no small losses.

In the command bridge of the aircraft carrier Akagi, a Japanese officer walked up behind Nagumo Chuichi, respectfully handed him a piece of paper, and said with his head bowed, “Your Excellency, Admiral, the first wave of 41 of our carrier planes has sunk two American carriers. The remaining 4 are returning to base.”

“Yoshi! Very well done! They are truly worthy of being the loyal souls of the Great Japanese Imperial Navy!” Nagumo Chuichi’s eyes lit up when he heard the news of the two American carriers being sunk. Yamamoto Isoroku’s plan now seemed to have been more than half successful. As long as they could completely annihilate this American main fleet, then it was only a matter of time before the Japanese Navy turned the tables.

However, as a long-time commander of naval carrier-based aircraft, Nagumo Chuichi also realized his current predicament—he had now used up all the chips in his hand. What the final outcome of this war would be was no longer something he personally could control.

Yamamoto’s entire plan, to put it bluntly, was to trade for one opportunity for the Japanese Naval Air Arm to strike first. Yamamoto had counted on this one wave of attacks to decide the outcome in one fell swoop, and Nagumo had also planned it that way. But who could have thought that the U.S. Navy would have weathered his first wave of attacks? Now the positions of all three Japanese fleets were exposed. The two sides were finally “meeting frankly.”

“Immediately launch more fighters! Prepare to engage the American attack group! Raise the fleet’s air defense alert from second degree to first degree!” Nagumo Chuichi gave the combat order.

He could not run at this time, because to turn and flee would be to abandon the entire Japanese battleship fleet to the Americans. So he could only grit his teeth and continue to attack. After defending against the first wave of the American attack, he would attack the American fleet once more. As the commander of this air fleet, he was confident he could lead his fleet to withstand the attack of the U.S. Navy.

“Woooo… Woooo…!” The alarm bells within the Japanese naval vessels also began to sound. The high-angle guns that had been lying flat began to point at the sky. Nagumo Chuichi stared at the sky and saw the squadrons of American planes charging out of the clouds on the horizon.

Above his head, the circling Japanese Zero fighters whistled as they went up to meet them. In the distant sky, the two formations of planes intertwined, drawing one white line after another across the azure sky. The formation of the American planes was broken up, and the Japanese and American planes became a chaotic mess, beginning to slaughter each other.

An American plane was shot down. The pilot opened his parachute in the sky. The plane, having lost its pilot’s control, trailed thick smoke as it crashed headfirst into the surface of the Pacific. The fire from the explosion was clearly visible to Nagumo Chuichi, who was standing on the bridge. He also saw an American fighter chasing a Japanese Zero, firing, and he also saw one of his own destroyers shoot down another American plane.

“The number of American planes has been reduced, so they can’t bring their numerical superiority to bear!” Nagumo Chuichi said with a cold laugh, his hand on the hilt of his officer’s sword. He spoke to the people around him, “As long as my fleet can withstand this wave of American carrier-based aircraft, we have won!”

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