On June 4, 1942 (the 21st day of the fourth lunar month), the Japanese army suffered a crushing defeat in the Battle of Midway. The US aircraft carrier "Enterprise" anchored in the naval port On June 4, 1942 (June 5, Tokyo time), the Japanese and US navies and air forces engaged in a fierce battle on Midway. In April, 16 carrier-based aircraft took off from the US aircraft carrier "Hornet" to attack Tokyo and other places, causing the whole country to shake. In early May, the base camp decided to attack Midway and annihilate the aircraft carrier formation of the US Pacific Fleet. To this end, Yamamoto Fifty-six formulated the "AF Operational Plan". "AF" is the code name for Midway. On May 20, a fleet of more than 200 ships was assembled at the sea anchorage on the Japanese island. It was divided into feint fleet, transport fleet and main attack fleet. The first mobile force composed of 4 aircraft carriers such as "Akagi" and "Hiryu" and nearly 350 ships of various types headed straight to Midway Island. Occupying Midway Island is only one of its purposes. What is important is that when the US Navy comes to help, it will send all the US ships to the sea to feed the fish. Therefore, the force invested in attacking Midway Island is not too large, as long as the landing is guaranteed; many ships are lying in ambush in the waters near Midway Island, waiting to gather and destroy the US Navy's support fleet. But this is just Japanese unrequited love. The radio communication between the Japanese fleets was intercepted by the US Navy. The word "AF" appears repeatedly in the telegram intercepted by the US, which obviously refers to an important target. After repeated research, the US Navy has determined that "AF" refers to Midway Island. After Pearl Harbor, Midway was a particularly prominent outpost, and the US Navy is expanding it as a forward base for patrol aircraft. Although the US Admiralty has a clear understanding of the Japanese Navy's intentions, it has no effective countermeasures. Its Pacific Fleet consists of only three aircraft carriers: the USS Enterprise, the USS Hornet, and the USS Yorktown. All the US Navy can do is to quickly reinforce Midway. Personnel, sandbags, and barbed nets were shipped to the island in large quantities. Admiral Nimitz mobilized the USS Enterprise and other three aircraft carriers, seven heavy cruisers, 15 destroyers, and a large number of carrier aircraft to equal the Midway Sea area. A large number of bomber squadrons were also stationed on the island and were ready. At the same time, they did a clever thing, which was to ambush the Yorktown in the sea 200 nautical miles northeast of Midway. On June 3, the Japanese fleet began to enter the attack position under the cover of a rain curtain. Before the attack was about to start, Yamamoto received two pieces of information, one of which was correct and one was wrong. The correct one was that the Japanese transport fleet, sailing at full speed towards Midway, was under aerial surveillance, and the Americans had expected the Japanese intentions. American bombers on Midway could launch a pre-emptive attack. The wrong piece of information was that the surviving American aircraft carrier was still far away in the Solomon Islands. Yamamoto had no doubts about either piece of information, and was preoccupied with how to deal with the bombers from Midway, leaving the American aircraft carrier behind. To the south of the Yamamoto Fleet was the Nanyun aircraft carrier fleet, which was mainly attacking Midway Island. The fleet was advancing at 24 knots, and the center of the fleet was four large aircraft carriers. On June 4, when the first light of dawn appeared in Haitian, the floodlights on the four aircraft carriers of Akagi, Kaga, Hiryu and Soryu were wide open, illuminating the flight deck. Batch after batch of dive bombers, horizontal bombers and Zero fighters took off from the carrier runway, roared around the ship in a circular formation, and then flew southeast. But the Americans at Midway were ready. As the Japanese aircraft approached, squadrons of American Wildcats took off and charged into the bomber group. The only targets the Japanese bombers could find were empty airstrips, and all the American planes were already in the air. A group of American bombers appeared above the Japanese fleet. They were not escorted by fighter jets. They lined up in a single line, passed through the artillery fire, and went straight to the large aircraft carrier Akagi. They took turns dropping torpedoes and then leaping into the sky. According to later reports, although the attack by the American bombers did not cause losses to the Japanese aircraft carrier fleet, it startled the commander of the fleet, Lieutenant General Nanyun. He was shocked and his command became more and more chaotic. The most feared thing about the aircraft carrier is that when the carrier aircraft comes back to refill or reload after a round, the other party will come to bomb. At this time, the carrier aircraft cannot take off and can only wait for the bombing. Perhaps it was just a coincidence that the American bombers flew in batches, and the shrill air raid sirens sounded again and again throughout the fleet. The armourers on the aircraft carrier had just loaded torpedoes, and they were afraid that it would affect the plane's takeoff and departure from the ship, so they hurriedly unloaded them. After a few tosses in this way, the entire fleet was arranged madly, irritable and exhausted. While the Japanese aircraft carrier was taking a series of emergency actions, the American aircraft carrier was also nervously anticipating. The reconnaissance planes kept providing accurate information, and the Americans stayed put. They knew that this was a game of death, and whoever correctly timing the attack would score points. When the last Japanese aircraft returning from Midway landed on the deck of the aircraft carrier, 15 American Marauder torpedo bombers appeared. This was an obsolete model, and without fighter escort, it was here to die. Fifty Zero fighter jets approached, and when the last of the fifteen little black dots disappeared into a wisp of fireworks, the Japanese sailors cheered in unison, and the two teams of American torpedo bombers flew in a single row. The Zero fighter jets lunged forward again, and the American bombers were destroyed one by one by a heavy rain of bullets, and all the torpedoes fired were evaded without causing any damage. The American bomber fleet was almost wiped out, and the noise of the fierce battle died down when the few remaining ones staggered away. The Zero fighter jets returned to the mothership to refuel, and the meritorious personnel were cheered. But suddenly they heard ominous sounds. Just then, the swarms of bombers from the Enterprise and Yorktown crept in, just in time for the Japanese to be unable to fight back. From the sky, the huge Japanese fleet was lined up in a circle, with four aircraft carriers in the middle of the protective circle. All the planes were neatly lined up on the deck, and they had just won the battle, and this was the most comfortable time. American dive bombers roared down from the clear sky, and none of the Zero fighters had time to take off to meet them. The anti-aircraft guns on the ship did not fire until the last minute. Nanyun's flagship Akagi was the first to be reimbursed. The bomb penetrated the deck and exploded deep in the hull, causing the bomb inside the ship to explode, and the hull caused a bump from the depth, shaking the burning plane into the sea. In just six minutes, it was over. Then came the Kaga's rapid sinking. Meanwhile, the Soryu was a blazing inferno, its crumbling remains floating in the sparkling Pacific Ocean on fire. On the last remaining aircraft carrier, the Hiryu, the pilots were told that they were the only remaining aircraft carrier pilots in Japan. They were ordered to sink the American aircraft carrier Yorktown. The Hiryu tried desperately to find the Yorktown. The Yorktown was bombed with several deadly bombs, but it still hadn't sunk, but the captain had to give the order to abandon ship. Just as the Dragon was desperately looking for the Yorktown, all the planes on the Enterprise and the Hornet were mobilized, they emerged from the afternoon sun and rushed towards the Dragon. The Zero fighters on the Dragon were already unable to fight the planes of the two aircraft carriers, and soon, the air fortresses flying from Midway joined the battle. Then more air fortresses flew into the battlefield, and they came from far away Pearl Harbor. By this time, there were no Zero fighters in the air, and the Dragon was just a shell at the mercy of American bombers. With the destruction of the four aircraft carriers, Yamamoto knew that there was no hope of taking Midway. The Japanese fleet had reached the outskirts of Midway, but he did not even give an order to bombard Midway. At 3 am on June 5, he gave the opposite order: "Cancel the occupation of Midway." Then the Japanese fleet turned around and sailed back. The Americans did not follow. In this battle, the Japanese lost 4 aircraft carriers, 1 heavy cruiser, 150 aircraft, and more than 3,500 personnel. The US lost 1 aircraft carrier "Yorktown" and 1 destroyer. But for the Japanese militarists, the real pain of the Battle of Midway was not the loss of a few aircraft carriers and hundreds of aircraft, but the loss of hundreds of experienced pilots and crew. For the Empire of Japan, its prestige was defeated, and the important thing is that before Midway Island, its attempt to dominate the Pacific Ocean was stopped halfway! "From then on, the Japanese army was forced to turn to the defensive, and the balance of power between the two sides changed.