"Your Excellency Commander, the 2nd Carrier Squadron was finished. All four aircraft carriers were sunk. The heavy cruisers and light cruisers were all sunk as well. Several destroyers were also lost!" Major General Takahashi Ibo reported.
Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto's face was as dark as water. Never had he imagined that the Combined Fleet would suffer such enormous losses in this battle. After their successful surprise attack on the German bases in the Mariana Islands, he had once believed they would win this naval battle. But the final outcome had slapped him hard across the face, forcing him to see reality clearly. Compared with the powerful German Navy, the Island Nation Navy was still far too weak!
"Four aircraft carriers sunk, nine Capital Ships sunk, two heavily damaged. At the same time, large numbers of heavy cruisers, light cruisers, and destroyers were sunk as well! In this battle, the Combined Fleet lost more than half its combat strength!" Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto sighed.
The carrier-based aircraft and pilots were practically wiped out too! Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo silently added.
They all knew that the Combined Fleet had undoubtedly suffered a crippling blow this time. In the battles to come, defeating the German Navy would likely become even more difficult. If things went badly, they might suffer utter defeat in this naval war.
At the same time, they knew that the entire Island Nation had pinned its hopes on them, hoping they could defeat the German Navy and clear a path for the Army's southward advance. Yet this was the result. Without command of the seas, would the Island Nation's Army dare head south? The German navy could send the southbound Army to feed the fish at any time. Under such circumstances, the Island Nation's Army marching south to seize the South Seas