Just as the Joint Conference was ready to let Halsey swallow the Japanese fleet in one go, Hori Teiki was also listening to summaries of intelligence from all sides and discussing the next countermeasures:

"The Second Air Force sent a telegram. At 5:15 pm today, the US fleet was found in the southeast direction, with a 295-degree yard and a speed of 17 knots. It is suspected that it is the main force of the enemy Pacific Fleet, about 1,100 kilometers away from the Kakuta Fleet. Because it was too late and the distance was too far, it did not launch an attack. The other Second Air Force reported that they had limited fuel and did not dare to use the fastest speed, only the economic speed was used, and it was expected to be 7."

While signaling the staff to mark the location of the Halsey fleet, Chiaki Matsuda also informed the Tsukahara Fleet: "Tsukahara commanded the main force of the First Air Force to arrive in East Hawaii, which is basically at the same latitude as Hawaii Island, 2,600 kilometers away from Hawaii, about 1,700 kilometers away from Los Angeles, and 1,900 kilometers away from the US fleet, and has not been discovered by US reconnaissance planes."

"The US fleet is surrounded by our army on three sides?" Hori Teiki looked at the chart and laughed, "This American fleet is 2,000 kilometers away from me, 1,100 kilometers away from Kakuda, and 1,900 kilometers away from Tsukahara... It's really interesting!"

"This fleet is not weak, with 2-3 fleet aircraft carriers, more than 12 escort aircraft carriers, and it seems that there are 2 battleships!"

Horitiki nodded: The Halsey fleet can fight any fleet of its own, but it is not easy to retreat safely after the battle. He asked the staff to deduce the four enemy and our fleets according to their current courses and speeds and mark the locations that may appear tomorrow morning.

"At 7:00 a.m. on October 27, our troops were 1,500 kilometers away from the Kakuda Fleet, 1,800 kilometers away from the US Fleet, and the Kakuda Fleet and the US Fleet were about 800 kilometers away."

Looking at the situation after the deduction, he thought something and asked Chiaki Matsuda: "You said, has the enemy judged that our army will join?"

Chiaki Matsuda thought about it carefully and nodded slowly: "Although the US military did not know that the Second Air Force had no oil, it was true that he fought Seattle and we fought Pearl Harbor. Both fleets suffered losses to varying degrees. If I were to guess that these two enemy troops would converge..."

"So the current course is heading towards our convergence point."

"But this makes no sense..." Matsuda Chiaki became confused. "First of all, the US military does not know where our side meets, and secondly, in the era of aircraft carrier combat, the two fleets do not have to meet in visual distance to exert their combat effectiveness. They can cooperate with each other at a suitable distance. Even if he really finds a point of convergence, aren't he worried about being attacked on both sides of our army? The Ministry of Justice believes that the greatest possibility of the enemy is to attack one of our troops, and then use the power of victory to attack the other fleet. The reason for going to the point of convergence is that he has not yet decided which head to attack first or that he is not sure which part to attack first."

Hori Teiki nodded: "There is a factor that you can't ignore. Pearl Harbor will definitely send reconnaissance planes again after sunrise tomorrow. It is easier for them to find our army unless I have significantly adjusted the course now..."

"Do you want to?"

"If the fleet retreats toward Midway now, the US military will probably not be able to find us." Horitoki smiled, "But this is impossible. If I retreat there, the oil-free Second Hang War will be entangled and beaten to death, and even Tsukahara cannot save him."

Matsuda Chiaki was so angry that his teeth were itchy: "In the end, the superior will have to save him."

"The US military is not trying to get closer to our fleet at present, because the distance is too far now, so no matter how long he chases, it is too late for him to gradually get closer to our army, but it is a bit intriguing that the opponent's judgment is quite accurate!" Hori Teiki sighed, "The US military commander is not weak, so we must be careful."

The t50 route was determined after discussions between Halsey, McCain and others. Although Halsey wanted to rush over and beat Hori Teki's troops to death immediately, after listening to Spruins's opinion, he took cautious measures, and there are three reasons to maintain the 295-degree course:

First, the direction of the Horitiki fleet's retreat north of Hawaii and constantly retreating toward the eastward direction was clear, and the Pearl Harbor reconnaissance aircraft confirmed this;

Second, Kakuda's final course after leaving the West Coast surveillance was to move southwest. It was also clear that he believed that the last position of the two was the most likely direction for the Japanese army to converge;

Third, even if the Japanese army did not meet like this, T50 could at least stop the Kakuda fleet and avoid being caught by the Tsukahara fleet behind them. Although Halsey still didn't know where the Tsukahara fleet is currently.

The t50 fleet has 2 battleships, 2-3 fleet aircraft carriers, and about 12 escort aircraft carriers. Hori Teiki thinks it is difficult to deal with it by himself alone. He must cooperate with Kakuda to fight whether to send oil to Kakuda or not, otherwise there is a possibility of being defeated by the US military. So he smiled and said, "Don't blame Kakuda. seducing the enemy is my order. He completed the mission excellently. At present, the US Pacific Fleet has such strength. If he is in Pearl Harbor during the day, we will not be able to fight at all!"

Chiaki Matsuda and a group of staff members nodded: If the T50 fleet was in Pearl Harbor, the US military would add 550 new combat aircraft today; if the first and second attack waves attacked the US fleet first, it might certainly result in significant damage, but the support fleet would definitely suffer heavy losses in the subsequent counterattacks of US Army Air. If the first two attack waves still only attacked Pearl Harbor, the counterattack launched by the T50 fleet would not be able to bear Hori Teiki; if the third attack wave was gritted in the first place, both the fleet and the aircraft would suffer even more heavy losses.

In the final analysis, if the Halsey fleet was at Pearl Harbor, Hori Teki could not chew Pearl Harbor at all. After Halsey left the port, it provided the prerequisite for the second strike against Pearl Harbor to destroy the US military's fuel. As for today, Takahara Erikata sent a squadron to eat 6 escort aircraft carriers, which was completely unexpected, and this was not in the plan at all.

Chiaki Matsuda was also in trouble. Tomorrow morning, Pearl Harbor reconnaissance planes will definitely come to find the fleet again. If the route is not changed, it will be very likely to be tracked; if it is changed to retreat to Midway Island, Kakuda will be done; if it is changed to accelerate the convergence in the northeast, it will just intersect the forward route of the Halsey fleet, and the distance between them will shrink rapidly. In the evening, the Americans may hit themselves... It seems that no matter how they choose, it is impossible.

Hori Teiki was obviously much calmer than him: "Keep the fleet's speed and the course remains unchanged, let the Americans come..."

"What do you mean?"

"I notified Kakuta that the meeting point was changed to 2,500 kilometers north of Pearl Harbor, so that he could adjust his course; in addition, he hoped that he would send reconnaissance planes as early as possible to maintain a contact distance of 900-1,000 kilometers with the US military as much as possible, so that the enemy could see it, but not be hit by the enemy."

"I can't beat him when I see it? I'm afraid it's not easy." Chiaki Matsuda was so angry. How could he have such a strategy?

"Easy!" Hori Teiki was confident.

"Let me think about it carefully." Matsuda Chiaki's mind quickly started to turn around, and several staff officers were also thinking hard about what Hori Teiki meant that "cannot see but cannot hit"? But it was only 1,100 kilometers away. The US military had a whole day. With just a little effort, it could narrow the distance to within 800 kilometers and release carrier-based aircraft attacks. Why did the commander dare to say that there was a way to "cannot hit"?

Matsuda Chiaki thought for a full 5 minutes, but in the end he was still not sure. He only asked one word in confusion: "Speed?"

Hori Teiki nodded: "Yes, it's speed! The Kakuda fleet can actually run 27 knots, and now it is running 16 knots just to save fuel. The US fleet can only run 18.5 knots at the fastest. Now the two armies are 1,100 kilometers apart. Assuming that both sides are driving in the same course, what scene will happen?"

The staff members suddenly realized that the fastest speed of Halsey fleet was 18.5 knots, and the Kakuda fleet was 16 knots. If they were parallel to the same direction, it meant that they could only shorten 2-3 knots per hour, and at best, a day was 30-40 nautical miles, and the distance was 1,100 kilometers. At this speed, the sun sets tomorrow, and the other party could not get close to them.

"Now the overall direction of the US military is to go north. Whether it is northwest or north, as long as Kakuta changes the route from south to north, the Americans will not be able to catch him for a while."

"But what if the other party speeds up? Although Kakuda can run 27 knots, if he really runs at this speed, he will lose fuel on the third day."

"Americans can't run so fast, 18.5 quarter is their limit."

"The Casablanca class can really only run 18.5 quarters, but the Essex class can run more than 30 quarters, and the other two battleships should also run more than 30 quarters. The US military can organize rapid formation pursuit alone!"

Because they captured many US officers and soldiers, Japan knew the performance of Essex and Casablanca, so Hori Teiki was sure that the US military formation could only run at this speed. He responded to Chiaki Matsuda's doubts:

"The method you said exists, so the other party must make a tactical choice, choose one of the two options:

First, no matter how we go, he continued to push all his troops and kept the speed of 18.5 knots and slowly came. Even if the two fleets of his side gathered, he would still fight with all the warships gathered.

Second, he bet with us, pull out the fast formation alone, and speed up to catch up with the Kakuda fleet."

Horitiki smiled and said, "I don't care about the first choice. He shortened more than 100 kilometers a day, and just 400 kilometers in three days. When he can fight us, Kakuda should have joined our army. Everyone will fight with the whole set of troops and fight step by step. If the enemy commander makes the second choice, the US fleet will be divided into two parts, and the two echelons will be larger and larger. In this way, after forcing the enemy to divide the troops, I will have an opportunity to take advantage of it."

"This is not easy, right?" Matsuda Chiaki asked in confusion. "The Americans have 2 Essex-class ships, which are equivalent to 3 Yunlong-class ships. The second airlines can only fight 2 Yunlong-class ships and are not satisfied with the crew. Once they are caught up, they may not be able to beat even without considering the fuel factor."

"Kaoda alone can't beat it, but I still have a way..."
Chapter completed!