"Lieutenant General, the airport on New Caledonia is temporarily unavailable. The 6 Catalina seaplanes 21 were either destroyed during an air strike or lost contact during flight..."

Lieutenant General Halsey waved his hand impatiently and said, "Major General Browning, the chief of staff, in his cabin, and said, "Major General, please tell me the key points."

"Okay, the point is that New Caledonia was blinded by the Japanese."

"Just blind...didn't log in?"

"Not yet," Major General Browning replied.

Halsey picked up his coffee cup, took a sip, and thought, "There is no landing, which means that the Japanese fleet attacking New Caledonia did not carry the landing force."

Colonel Browning is a carrier-based pilot and is also an expert in the use of naval aviation, so he is also a person who considers the problem from the perspective of an aircraft carrier commander. He thought about it and then said to Halsey: "Lieutenant General, there are two possibilities for the Japanese fleet not to carry landing troops. One is that the landing troops are still on the way and need to wait until the battleships and carrier-based aircraft completely suppress New Caledonia Island before landing will be initiated; the second possibility is... There is a second Japanese fleet in the waters near New Caledonia, which is the Japanese aviation fleet!"

"Japanese aviation fleet?" Halsey turned his coffee cup gently, "but submarine reconnaissance showed that the main force of Rabaul's fleet was heading northwest... it should be to deal with our three broken fleets."

"Maybe the Japanese fleet heading north did not include all their large aircraft carriers!" said Colonel Browning. "The Japanese had a large number of aircraft carriers, with more than 10 large aircraft carriers, and there were several light aircraft carriers. In terms of the use of aircraft carrier forces, theirs was very abundant."

"There are already two 20,000-ton aircraft carriers near New Caledonia..." Halsey said with his fingers, "We have three broken-in aircraft carriers in the Western Pacific. If the Japanese want to ensure the safety of their two key routes, they must invest at least two aircraft carriers on each of the two routes. In this way, the location of the six aircraft carriers can be confirmed."

"There are 5-6 aircraft carriers that may be waiting for us in the Coral Sea!" said Colonel Browning. "In addition, the two aircraft carriers accompanied by the two Yamato, the Japanese have up to 8 aircraft carriers, while we only have four aircraft carriers."

"No, no." Halsey waved his hand, "Col. Your algorithm is not right. The Japanese only have 5-6 aircraft carriers at most, because the two Yamato-classes are too precious to the Japanese. If the Japanese use them as bait, they will definitely be equipped with a large number of Zero fighters on those two aircraft carriers. So in terms of the number of aircraft carriers, we are 4 to 6 with the Japanese. Considering that our aircraft carriers can carry more carrier-based aircraft, we can basically remain the same as the Japanese aircraft carrier formation in terms of the number of aircraft."

"We won't deal with the two Yamato-classes that the Japanese were?"

"No," Halsey shook his head, "Where are these 70,000 tons and 80,000 tons battleships so easy to explode? We ignore them and look for aircraft carriers that are ambushed by the Japanese. It is also cost-effective to exchange one-to-one with the Japanese devils, and it is not a loss to use 4 ships to exchange them for 3 of them! Because we are the US Navy, and behind it, we have the most powerful industry in the world, and our Independence and Essex class will soon begin mass service!"

The first ship of the Independence class has been in service, and the first ship of the Essex class will be in service in December. In 43 years, it will be a mess!

Not to mention 4 for 3, 4 for 2, or 4 for 1, Halsey will sooner or later be able to make up all the old capitals of Yamamoto Izuru.

Colonel Browning thought for a while and nodded and asked, "What if there was no Japanese aircraft carrier fleet ambush north of New Caledonia?"

Halsey put down his coffee cup and spread his hands together, "Don't our United States still have an army? They have so many tanks, planes and cannons that will definitely save Australia's."

...

November 5th, 12:20.

The Coral Sea, about 50 nautical miles outside the island of New Caledonia, the Yamato battleship.

General Issaki Yamamoto stood inside the bridge, listening to the roar like thunder coming from afar, which was the target of the battleship of the King Kong and the battleship of Hiei on the island of New Caledonia.

Such shelling has lasted for several days, but the American fleet did not even have a shadow. Instead, some Australian Navy destroyers came, and they did not dare to approach New Caledonia during the day, but quietly approached at night and then left in the early morning.

Obviously, this is a retreat on the island! The British and American allies will soon give up New Caledonia...

Yamamoto Izuru frowned deeply. He didn't want to occupy New Caledonia at all. It was not that he didn't know how important this island was, but he thought the Allies would defend the island to death. If he wanted to capture it, he would have to invest at least tens of thousands of army red deer. As a result, his fleet fired a few days of cannons and threw more than a hundred bombs, and the Allies seemed to have begun to retreat.

Look at the meaning, just use Rabaul to transport some troops to come over, and you can defeat New Caledonia without bloodshed.

But...where are the US aircraft carriers? Is it really not in the South Pacific?

"Are there any reports on the Atlantic war situation?" Yamamoto Iroku suddenly turned around and asked.

"Oh, there are some." Ugaki Chan replied, "The United Kingdom, the United States and the Soviet Union formed a joint fleet of the Allied Powers, with Admiral Ingersoll, the commander of the US Atlantic Fleet, and Burganing, the Vice Chairman of the Soviet People's Committee and President of the State Bank, as the military committee..."

"President of the State Bank? Military Commissioner?" Yamamoto Iroku was stunned. What's the matter?

Ugaki Chan said: "This joint fleet is very powerful. It has opened up the Arctic Circle route and has also escorted a group of US troops to the northern part of the British-controlled Ireland."

"What?" Yamamoto Iroku stared at me.

"General," Ugaki smiled, "It seems that the Germans can't really control the sea rights of the Atlantic without our help. They are in a little trouble, and there may be fierce battles on the Ireland island."

Yamamoto Izuru frowned and refused to comment: "So...is there any news that the US aircraft carrier is active in the Atlantic?"

"No," Ugaki said, "the Germans are currently attacking the Azores, and the US troops guarding the Azores also resist in a weak way, as if they were abandoned."

Because of losing the sea rights of the Atlantic Ocean, the Azores have been in a semi-encircled state since the spring of 1942. The American transport fleet was unable to get close at all, and could only use submarines and destroyers to transport supplies in small batches. Therefore, the island's defense power has always been insufficient and it is impossible to make effective defense, so it is reasonable to become an abandoned child.

"Even the Azores have become abandoned?" Yamamoto Iroji shook his head. "The American aircraft carrier must still be in the Pacific." His tone was solemn. "If they were still in the Pacific, then they would either follow the large transport fleet that was heading to Australia, or be near us!"

"Commander, it's unlikely that it's nearby?" Ugaki smiled, "If they were nearby, they should attack us."

Yamamoto's 1st Fleet (the flagship is Musashi) is actually a bait, so the two Big Eagle-class aircraft carriers have 24 Type Zero (commonly used) and 6 Comets (commonly used), and the air defense power is relatively strong. Moreover, all ships, including the two Yamato, have been modified for strengthening air defense in the past 10 months. Therefore, even air strikes by four large American aircraft carriers can most likely withstand it.

As long as the US aircraft carrier is attracted, it is only a matter of time before it can be exposed. The lurking Nagamo Tadaichi's 1st air fleet will have a chance to start.

But even if the American aircraft carrier is nearby, it is obviously not taken to the bait.

"No, they are likely to be nearby, even if they are not there, we will be there now." Yamamoto Iroku paused and said, "Send all comets and Zero Water Scouts out! Search carefully and don't let every inch of the sea surface of the Coral Sea!"

...

East of the Australian continent, the Coral Sea.

The USS Lexington aircraft carrier, the 1st special fleet flagship.

Standing in the command center of the command center on the second floor of the Ship Island, after seeing the two sbds that were recovering from reconnaissance landing smoothly, Halsey retracted his gaze: "Have you discovered the Japanese aircraft carrier yet?"

"No." Major General Browning shook his head, "The seaplanes sent by the cruiser and the Caterina seaplanes that took off from the east coast of Australia have searched most of the Coral Sea, and no shadows of the main force of the Japanese aircraft carrier force will be found. Will it be..."

"Continue to search!" Halsey smiled, "You must be patient. By the way, those Japanese warships..."

"Also bombarded targets on the island with artillery fire near New Caledonia."

"Haha, then the main force of their aircraft carrier force must be in the Coral Sea!" Halsey gritted his teeth, "Let's disperse the formation now. Let Major General Fletcher command a second team with Enterprise and York City as the core, and keep a distance of 100 nautical miles from us."

"Scatter?" Major General Browning was stunned. "If it disperses, it will not be easy to defend against air strikes."

"But it will not be beaten up by the Japanese in one go," Halsey frowned, "The question now is who will find the opponent first... We must always maintain the strength of counterattack, Major General, I have a premonition that we will not be unscathed in the upcoming battle. However, we will definitely make the Japanese pay a heavy price!"
Chapter completed!