"Discovered a mobile fleet consisting of Lexington and Yorktown class ships. There are also a number of cruisers and destroyers."
"Discovered a fleet centered around two Yorktown-class carriers. There are also four cruisers and more than ten destroyers."
Among the 32 Type 97 reconnaissance planes deployed for scouting, multiple aircraft reported two enemy mobile fleets. Of course, the main force was the carriers, totaling four. Among them, one is undoubtedly the Saratoga, the sole surviving Lexington-class carrier. On the other hand, the report mentioned three Yorktown-class carriers, but among them, Enterprise has already been confirmed sunk in the Battle of Wake Island. Therefore, one of the reported three Yorktown-class carriers is likely the Wasp, with a similar ship structure. With an integrated funnel and a bridge, the ship closely resembles the Yorktown-class, making identification difficult from a distance.
In response to the detailed reports brought in one after another by the reconnaissance planes, the staff on the flagship Sōryū of the Second Fleet and perhaps the headquarters staff on the flagship Shōkaku of the Third Fleet were in an uproar. Before the operation, the Combined Fleet command had suggested that there might be two or at most three carriers appearing at Midway. In fact, even in the pre-deployment tabletop exercises, they only assumed three carriers, so some were angered by the inconsistency in the reports.
Adding just one carrier significantly increases the overall strength. Two carriers are better than one, and three carriers are better than two. Moreover, the increase from three to four carriers doesn't just double the force, applying Lanchester's laws directly may be a bit rough, but even a minimum of a 50% increase and potentially close to double the effective strength could be possible. While subordinates couldn't hide their agitation, the commanders, Ozawa of the Second Fleet and Kuwabara of the Third Fleet, remained calm. Both of them never fully trusted the staff at the Combined Fleet command.
The Combined Fleet command was filled with strange individuals—snobs trying to show off their talent through outrageous behavior, staff members whose job was supposed to be planning but were only obsessed with internal coordination and maintaining a good atmosphere within the headquarters. It was a collection of incompetence. This was not only the responsibility of the individuals but also the fault of Admiral Yamamoto, the Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet, who lacked discernment. However, both Ozawa and Kuwabara were not without judgment to the point of openly stating it. In any case, if the Second Fleet had executed Operation MI alone according to the conventional plan set by the Combined Fleet command, significant losses would have been incurred due to the aerial inferiority. Abandoning the diversionary operation in the Aleutians and concentrating forces on Midway was the right decision.
The analysis of the discovered American mobile fleet was the same for Ozawa of the Second Fleet and Kuwabara of the Third Fleet. However, their subsequent actions were completely opposite.
Ozawa of the Second Fleet, responsible for the attack on the enemy mobile fleet, immediately launched the attack squadrons. From Sōryū, Hiryū, Unryū, and Hakuryū, a total of 192 planes, including 18 each of the D3As and B5Ns with 12 Zero fighters as escorts, quickly took off, kicking up a flurry on the flight deck and soaring into the eastern sky. On the other hand, Kuwabara of the Third Fleet, in charge of attacking Midway Base, instructed the 24 aircraft on air patrol, along with the 48 Zero fighters waiting on the flight deck, to take off immediately. Unlike the Second Fleet, the Third Fleet had already been spotted by B-17 heavy bombers and SBD Dauntless dive bombers believed to have been launched from enemy carriers, during their patrol duty, having approached the island for the attack on Midway. Now that their location was exposed, an air raid was inevitable.
American carriers carried a large number of planes. With four carriers, there should be a minimum of 150 planes, potentially exceeding 200, rushing toward the Third Fleet's airspace. Kuwabara honestly didn't know how well they could withstand with only 72 Zero fighters.
During the Battle of Wake Island, the Third Fleet, despite having 96 Zeros, couldn't completely stop the enemy attack squadrons consisting of over a hundred planes launched from Enterprise and Lexington, resulting in Kamikaku and Amakaku falling prey to the dive bomber attack. The bitter experience of that time should have been firmly fed back to the personnel of the Third Fleet, but on the battlefield, one couldn't predict what would happen.
"This is a critical moment for us."
Kuwabara stared at the eastern sky. In as little as an hour and a half, or at the latest, two hours, the radar should pick up the enemy formation.