Almost at the same time, Nimitz led the TF48 formation that survived the disaster quietly left South Africa, carefully heading towards Australia against the edge of the Indian Ocean.

Compared with the tragic situation of retreating from the South Atlantic, the TF48 has now recovered a little bit of vitality. Not only did the injured Franklin perform as much repair as possible, but it also pulled away the only two remaining escort aircraft carriers from the South African fleet and added 4 auxiliary cruisers. It looks like that, but in fact it has very weak combat power.

In addition, Nimitz also took away the USS Hornet aircraft carrier, which had been lying in South Africa for several months but had not been completely repaired. The maximum speed of the ship could only reach 18 knots, and the deck and hangar were almost unavailable. This was left by Spruins' TF46 fleet in the last South Atlantic Battle, and suffered considerable injuries. Because South Africa lacked technical strength, it could only repair it to this level after lying for a long time. But Nimitz is still grateful. Now that the US Navy has lost most aircraft carriers, he is very eager for such a repairable warship.

After receiving information about the Japanese main fleet preparing to attack Midway Island, he was in a low mood and regretted that last decisive attack should not be fought for the battle not long ago. Otherwise, he could still leave many crews and maybe he could save two aircraft carriers. If so, he would have a lot of room for maneuver now. He could go to the Indian Ocean to make a big move when the Japanese main force advanced eastward.

But there is no medicine for regret in this world, and he believes that if he really had so much strength, Hori Teiki would probably not have put him into the Indian Ocean calmly.

Nimitz guessed this correctly. In order to prevent the US military from causing trouble again, Hori Teji spent a lot of effort, deployed a lot of aircraft and reconnaissance forces, and deliberately left the 3-aircraft war in the Indian Ocean, which could be completely blocked when necessary. By October, after Katsuki and Asu were in service to form the Fifth Air War, he also considered putting it on the front line of the Nanyang.

Now Nimitz has only one Franklin in his hand. After the South African crew was transferred and the pilot (member of the TF46 fleet) who was injured and returned to the team last time, he only barely collected 88 crews, and even the minimum requirements for an Essex-class ship were not met, let alone arming the Hornets.

However, Nimitz knew that Hawaii had crews. As long as the ship was pulled to Hawaii for repair, the planes and personnel were added, and the two battleships of the Pacific Fleet and some escort aircraft carriers were still a powerful and potential fleet, at least the most powerful force of the US Navy at present.

Therefore, when the country sent him a telegram to seek his opinion on the Battle of Midway, he thought painfully and gave an opinion: "The Pacific Fleet was hidden near Pearl Harbor, preserved its strength, and only weakened the enemy fleet with its army, navy and aviation forces. If Midway cannot be defended, it can retreat in time."

Truman frowned and asked, "General Nimitz thinks he should retreat from Midway?"

"Yes! Before retreating, it is recommended to use aviation forces to weaken the Japanese fleet as much as possible." Turner reported to Truman, "The Japanese army dispatched all the main forces of the joint fleet. Not to mention the existing strength of the Pacific Fleet, even General Nimitz's fleet is intact and it is hard to match. What's more, he has just set off from South Africa, and the time is not too late. But it is a good idea to use aviation forces to weaken the enemy. He listed the target order, oil tankers first, aircraft carriers second, cargo ships third, and then other warships?"

"This order?" Truman was a little confused. "Shouldn't he be fired first?"

"The air force in Midway can fight aircraft carriers, but if I guess it's good, after tonight, the airport will be destroyed. Midway and Hawaii are more than 2,000 kilometers apart. The bomber for takeoff operations can only be b-17 or b-29, and it is in a state of no escort. It is easier to fight oil tankers than aircraft carriers. Our army's losses are less. It is easy to destroy enemy ships. With such a huge force in the joint fleet, the fuel consumption per day must reach 10,000 tons. Once there is no fuel, no matter how powerful the ship is, it can only retreat obediently."

"Will the enemy attack Hawaii? If it attacks, how should our army deal with it?"

"Not in the short term. Our army in Hawaii has deployed more than 2,000 aircraft, more than 100,000 ground troops and has reliable fortifications. With the strength of the joint fleet, we cannot defeat this island. I even look forward to the enemy's attack, which will definitely destroy their big teeth."

"But there is one thing that cannot be ignored." Li Hai added, "If the enemy blocks Hawaii, we will be very difficult. The island is nearly 4,800 kilometers from California, the closest to the local area, which is much higher than the distance of long-range strategic air transport to the UK. Even if the latest long-range transport aircraft is used, it can only transport 6-8 tons of materials at a time. If the return fuel is deducted, the actual net increase in materials for a single trip is only 2-3 tons at most. In the short term, this kind of supply behavior cannot be continued."

“How long can Hawaii support it if there is no local assistance.”

"If the Japanese army does not attack and only blockade, it can last for at least half a year; if the Japanese army attacks and fierce conflicts break out, it is hard to say, it may be three months, one month or even shorter." Turner smiled bitterly, "Hawaii has good military strength and considerable naval maintenance and construction power, but this is based on the assistance provided by the rear. This island cannot produce even an aircraft, a tank, a shell, and a ton of oil."

"There is one thing you don't have to worry about. The Japanese fleet will not last for 3 months." Li Hai comforted Truman, "Japan's land is more than 7,000 kilometers away from Hawaii, and it is possible to transport 100,000-150,000 tons of materials. However, Japan cannot maintain such a long supply line for a long time, which greatly exceeds Japan's national strength. The biggest possibility is that the Japanese army hopes to capture Midway as its fortress and base after it is advanced, and then stock up on it, and then set out from here to attack Hawaii, so that it is certain. Therefore, General Turner suggested that air forces be used to continuously consume the Japanese army. Even if our army abandons Midway and is occupied by the enemy, it cannot be interrupted air strikes on Midway, so that it cannot be built."

"But we cannot maintain a strong air raid in the Pacific and an equally powerful air force in South America," General Arnold complained. "In order to meet the President's request for the deployment of 3,000 combat aircraft to South America, I am trying to draw forces, some even from the West Coast. If you say the West Coast is to maintain this scale, I don't know where so many troops come from."

Truman was shocked: "We have so few aircraft in our army? I remember you said that the United States can build 100,000 aircraft at full capacity a year. Now there is no need to support the UK and the Soviet Union. We can use all of these 100,000 aircraft by ourselves. How could it be not enough?"

Arnold listed a string of data with a wry smile:

"First of all, there is no 100,000 aircraft, now it is only 80,000 to 90,000 aircraft at most. If some backward models and trainers such as p-38p-39p-61 are excluded, the overall output is about 70,000 aircraft, and about two-thirds are given to the Army and one-third are given to the Navy.

Secondly, the scale of the aviation force has never been determined by the aircraft manufacturing volume, but by qualified pilots. The Land Airlines had only more than 3,000 qualified pilots in service before joining the war. After the Pearl Harbor Incident, retired and reserve personnel were urgently recruited, and by the end of 1942, the total scale exceeded 10,000 units. However, since that year, we have also suffered shocking losses, and nearly 7,000 units were lost to Germany's strategic bombing, in the Caribbean, Newfoundland, Bermuda, and Iceland.

At least 9,000 units were lost in previous battles such as the South Atlantic, 2,000 units were lost in many strategic air transports and hump air transports, and more than 6,000 units were lost in previous battles of the Pacific Front. Then, no less than 2,000 units were lost due to the fall of Britain, India, and Brazil. We lost more than 1,000 units in other processes such as training, drills, transitions... To sum up, the overall loss is close to 8 units.

Finally, the current distribution range of land aviation is extremely wide. On the East Coast, we have about 8,000 units, more than half of which are fighter jets; in Central America and the Caribbean, we have more than 4,000 units, with a strong proportion of fighter jets; South America is preparing to arrange 3,000 units; the headquarters is under strategic air transport of 2,000 units; Newfoundland and Canada; more than 1,000 units in South Africa; the Australian-New Zealand first line and the Pacific Islands front line have more than 5,000 units, distributed in Australia-New Zealand, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Vanuatu, Samoa and other large areas.

Region; the Aleutian Islands has nearly 1,000 units; on the West Coast and Hawaii, we have 4,000 units, and the total number of units above is 10,000. The use of troops has reached its limit, so the vast inland areas of the United Zhong, namely the west of the Rocky Mountains to the Tennessee River, is equivalent to a place as large as Western Europe, with only less than 2,000 units. Of course, there are still another 5,000 units in training. Not counting these reserve units, our total strength is about 30,000 units. This force is definitely not small, and we believe it is larger than the total of the three-country Axis and Land Airlines."

Truman breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the last number, but Arnold's next sentence made his heart tugged.

"We estimate that the Luftwaffe has 20,000 units (actually less than 70,000), the Italian Air Force has 5,000 units (actually only in the early 3,000), and Japan's Army Air Force has 7,000 units (actually more than 5,000), but although they have few people, they have rich combat experience. Germany maintained a huge front-line troops on the Eastern Front, fighting every day, and the experienced crews are about 75% (actually 68%). The Italian Air Force and Japan's Army Air Force are a little different, at least half of them. Where are we..." Arnold reported a number with a wry smile, "If you don't remove strategic air freight, about 20% of those with experience, and if you exclude strategic air freight, only about 15% of those with practical experience, what should you do? You can't fly the plane and land successfully, just call the pilot..."

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